Book Review: A brush with Indian Art

Jokes apart, most of us are clueless when it comes to art . The more inspired of us might know the more popular ones like Vincent Van Goh and  Picasso. When it comes to Indian art, our tradition is so rich, deep and varied that most of us just know that it is " traditional art" and nothing beyond. " A Brush with Indian Art" by Mamta Nanny helps us to understand Indian art very beautifully.  The book is in chronological order but each chapter can hold its ground independently too.

What led me to this book ? The last book review we did was of how an Indian mole rat goes to the Bhimbetka caves and discovers the 30,000 year old cave paintings. While we decided to travel there and check it out ourselves, it piqued our curiosity enough to look for more books on Indian cave art.  " A Brush with Indian Art" has made a rich list of all the Indian arts - from Cave Paintings in Bhimbetka and Ajanta to the most contemporary art works my M.F Hussain! Many a times lists can be boring, but you can rest assured that this book is not because it not only talks about the art but also the socio- political reasons that led to the development of the art form! It also manages to list the places where you can see the art in real life. 

Raja Ravi Varma, the grandfather of the queens of Travancore and a celebrated Malayali artist, although royal was not born a Raja. This title was conferred to him by the Viceroy and Governor - General of India. He went to the J. J school of arts, which was established by the British. You can get many such quick behind the scenes insights about the art and the artist in this book.

There was another secret reason behind me picking this book. A couple of days ago, my daughter met a friend who said she stopped going to art class because she has learnt everything about art. Knowing how kids function, you can guess what happened next ? We picked this book to show here how many forms art can take and what it really means for human history.  We are now at the cave paintings chapter, we just discovered that misfortune befalls anyone who tries to deface or reproduce the paintings and that many attempts at replicating this in museums have been unsuccessful!

Get your copy of the book here - https://www.amazon.in/Brush-Indian-Art-Contemporary-Paintings/dp/0143441566

Educational Value: 5/5

Role Models & Attitude Portrayal: Not Applicable

Age Band - broad band :All Ages

Publisher :Puffin

Author : Mamta Nainy

Illustrator: Aniruddha Mukherjee

About the Reviewer:

Roomana Basha: Mother to a book lover  | Founder and CEO ekdali.com | Loves books - Currently reading How to Teach Economics to my Daughter| Fitness Freak | History Buff

Book Review: Telephones Bell to Cell

Since the start of the summer vacation for my daughter, we have been travelling frequently to our home towns to get some grandparent time for our kid. I have been doing most of my work on the mobile phone, including typing of this book review. This Ubiquitous gadget has changed the way we live more than any other invention of mankind.  Most parents reading this post, know of other modes of communication that existed in the past.  Kids of today of course are a different breed. My kid didn't even know about letters till I took her to the post office the other day and explained how people communicated. I think she understood  that it took a long while to get a message across to people back in the day!

"Telephones Bell to Cell" is a great attempt at explaining the history of telephones and how they have "evolved" over time.  The book starts from how Alexander Graham Bell's first phones were directly connected to each other.  When telephone operators used to connect you, you had to be careful of what you spoke as she could listen into the conversation, if she wanted to.  Wonder what  our pre teens, who want their own cell phones, would think about this?

After explaining mobile phones in their current form, the author makes an attempt at explaining how the future might look like for phones. The final page is a set of open questions to spark discussions on what phones of the future might look like? From a technology stand point are we there yet? What would our wish list be for a phone? How do we control e - waste? Although the author doesn't touch upon the subject of privacy and cyber - security, this could be great  Add - on discussion points to have with our children.

You may download the e - copy here - https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/31924-telephones-bell-to-cell

Educational Value: 5/5

Role Models & Attitude Portrayal: Not Applicable

Age Band - broad band : 8+ years

Publisher : Pratham

Author : Veena Prasad

Illustrator: Nishith Mehta

About the Reviewer:

Roomana Basha: Mother to a book lover  | Founder and CEO ekdali.com | Loves books - Currently reading The Boy At The Top Of The Mountain by John Boyne | Fitness Freak | History Buff

This books was sent for review by the publisher to the the reviewer

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'Our Freedom Struggle' Story Telling for Children

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Let your child learn and relive India's Freedom Struggle through song, dance , story and drama.

Date : 15th April
Time : 1:45 - 3-45 pm
Venue :. Atta Gallata ,Kormangala
Age Group : 8+
Tickets : INR 400

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Belonging to Groups - A Basic Human Need?

My eyes roved around the hall, searching for my daughter. My three years old is gregarious and confident and makes friends quite easily. I knew that she would be comfortable in the party without me hovering over her. But that doesn’t mean I don’t keep an eye on her. There she was, sitting alongside her new friends, two slightly older girls. She looked up at me, with troubled and questioning eyes. I went over and sat by her side. She immediately opened up her bag of complains. “They say I am dark”, she said accusingly, hoping that I would correct those girls. The girls immediately started to defend themselves. “She is sitting in a black chair, which is why she is dark. We are sitting in a white chair, hence we are white”, they emphasized.

I was too shocked to think for a while. I didn’t expect to hear this from 5 year olds. I turned to my little one, and told her she is not dark or white, and the chair she sits on doesn’t matter.  But I knew it would fall on deaf ears. Within a minute, I heard from her. “Mom, I want a white chair too. I don’t want a black chair”, she whined. I refused to relent, but she just wouldn’t be satisfied till her wish is fulfilled. She went along and dragged a white chair to her friends and sat down beside them. I watched her with troubled eyes, as she followed those girls everywhere through the evening, doing as they did, and oscillating between exhilaration when they included her in the games, and dejection when they wouldn’t.

I was flooded with images of my own childhood. Of my being rejected by the popular children in my class, how everyone tried to belong to one group or other, of my own silly behavior in order to be accepted by a set of friends, of how uneasy it made me feel to be someone not myself. It took a long time for me to find out that it wasn’t necessary. I made more deep and everlasting friendships when I stopped trying hard to please everyone I knew. I wanted to teach all this to my daughter, so that she wouldn’t commit the same mistakes. That she become stronger and more in control of her mind and emotions. That she stop trying to imitate or please others, just so that they would include her in their play. That she can find other friends who are like her.

But my husband calmed me down. “You can’t really teach that to a 3 year old. She has to learn it in the course of her life. Don’t worry so much. She would be fine”, he said with a kind look. He was right in a way. The need to belong to a group is quite an inherent trait in human beings. It was quite useful for our ancestors who were not as strong as the predators of their times. Because of their weak claws, little fur and long childhoods, they needed a group to be and feel protected and safe. This inherent thing is still what makes a person feels safe and secure in a group. Today, sans the harsh environment for survival, man still needs to belong in order to feel secure and confident. Approval from people in the group makes a person feel valued, significant and increases his self worth. Research shows that being excluded is strongly associated with poor mental health and it leads to a destructive loop. Being rejected has very negative and sometimes everlasting effects.

 

So it is natural for my little one to feel accepted by these girls. And what best way to seek approval than to imitate them. So she is not really doing anything wrong, and it is not really dangerous. Guess I wanted to protect her from getting hurt and feeling sad. But can I really shield her from all this? I don’t think so. I need to show her that it is impossible to please everyone or be accepted by everyone around, without losing our own happiness. That there will always be some people who would not understand and approve of what she does. There will always be some children who would not include her in their play. It was really ok, and she should just find other friends to play with. Someday, I hope to be able to make this point across to her !

References: 

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/social-acceptance-and-rejection-the-sweet-and-the-bitter.html#.WTYEUfmGPDc

http://www.utahcountycounselors.com/patient-resources/learning-library/the-need-to-relate-and-feel-accepted/

About the Author:

Vidya, Part time writer and a full time mother, passionate about parenting and raising a happy child. Often Volatile and expressive, she writes her mind on her blog

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