A cottage where children make clay elephants; a terrace where puppets dance; a room for origami… as Children’s Day approaches, we explore alternative learning spaces for children in Tamil Nadu
A cottage where children make clay elephants; a terrace where puppets dance; a room for origami… as Children’s Day approaches, we explore alternative learning spaces for children in Tamil Nadu
Open House
The small terrace at 67, Masudhi Theru is where the magic unfolds at Medavakkam in Chennai. It is the stage where R Karthik and the team of Open House perform shadow and glove puppetry, narrate stories and put up plays for children. “There are 12 of us, with five specifically for puppetry,” says Karthik, adding that they are a motely bunch consisting of an assistant film director, auto-driver, and marketing executive among others, bound together by their love for children.
Open House puts on shows every Sunday at 6pm, and does not charge for entry. “People can pay as they please,” says Karthik. Their stories are based on Nature. “We talk about birds, animals, plants and trees using minimal props. Our plays follow the street theater format and there is no make-up or extensive sets involved.”
Open House puts on shows every Sunday at 6pm, and does not charge for entry Photo Credit: Special arrangement
The team holds workshops in which children are taught to make puppets and conceptualise a play from scratch. Open House is also working with children at Tsunami Relief Quarters at Puducherry. “We try to imbibe life skills and soft skills in them through storytelling,” Karthik explains, adding that next year, they will be working with children at schools run by the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department across Tamil Nadu.
Damarugam
“Isn’t it a form of violence to force a child to learn something an adult wants them to?” asks John Sundar of Damarugam Learning Center in Coimbatore. Music forms the core of Damarugam, but the center offers a range of free workshops every month, including mandala art, making toys from trash, cloth, coconut and palm leaves, origami and theatre. This is so that the child gets to pursue what he/she is drawn to.
Handpicked children’s films are screened at the center and in the evenings, John, who has a light music troupe, offers instrumental, western and classical vocal classes. “These classes are for a fee,” he explains, adding that this supports his part-time venture with Government schools — John teaches music for free for students there.
Damarugam offers a range of free workshops every month, including mandala art, making toys from trash, cloth, coconut and palm leaves | Photo Credit: Iyyappa Madhavan
At Damarugam, every child is equal. “Often, only children from privileged backgrounds benefit from hobby classes, many of which are offered for a premium. We hope to break this,” says John. Their workshops don’t just focus on the craft being taught. “We gradually ease shy children out of their shells, help those with low self-esteem drop their inhibitions,” he says, adding: “We offer a round of applause even if a child walks up to the front of the group to introduce themselves .”
Lila Learning Space
Erode-based Lila, according to its founder Madhumathi Karthik, mother of an eight-year-old, is a space “for preserving childhood”. It is a Waldorf-inspired center for the early childhood years. “We offer age-appropriate activities that let children be children,” explains Madhumathi: “Most spaces children are exposed to, such as places of worship or malls, are adult-centric.”
Lila is a Waldorf-inspired center for the early childhood years Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Through Lila, she hopes to offer children a child-centric environment. For instance, children there celebrate festivals much like adults, but there is a difference. “For Pongal, they make their own pongal in tiny pots under adult supervision. For New Year’s too, there is music and dance, but that which is suitable and enjoyable for children,” she adds.
Cooking is an important activity at Lila, so much so that some of its “food scientists” as young as three years old have come up with their own recipes that Madhumathi is putting together as a booklet.
Nirai Learning Centre
A tile-roofed cottage in Singanallur village near Pollachi, with a courtyard open to the skies. Inside, there are do it grass mats spread on the floor, and wooden racks with clay, books, puzzles, board games, and art and craft material. Nirai, according to its founder Saranya Kumaresan, a homeschooling mother with a five-year-old, is an “open-learning center for children and adults”. She explains, “Here, we have the resources necessary for a child to engage in free play. There are no rules as to what he/she can do with the material.”
Saranya envisions Nirai as a place that brings together homeschooling parents and provides peer support for their children Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Saranya, however, holds workshops on a regular basis for children at the center. She recently hosted a clay modeling workshop, and is soon set to hold a workshop on kolams, including sessions on making natural kolam powder. Nirai is less than a month old, and Saranya envisions it as a place that brings together homeschooling parents and provides peer support for their children. Saranya does not charge a fee for her center; she instead works on a pay-as-you-wish model.