Date:22/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/22/stories/2006052215450200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Going back to basics: storytelling

Staff Reporter

Five audio CDs with stories for children in Tamil released Five audio CDs with stories for children in Tamil released

Stories help stimulate a child's imagination and creativity

Children are put to strain by unreasonable expectations from parents and education system

REACHING OUT: M. Anandakrishnan, former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University (left), releasing the CDs of children's stories. — Photo: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI: Is the education system and changing family structures eroding traditional spaces of storytelling?

So thought speakers at a function to release five volumes of children's stories here recently.

Five audio CDs with stories for children in Tamil, produced by Intellect India Solutions, were released at the Tamilnadu Foundation, Kilpauk.

Only alternatives

The speakers said that the only alternatives currently available were the cinematic and televised media narratives addressing adults that children were continually exposed to.

R. Duraipandi of Intellect India Solutions said the production hoped to provide stories for children through the same modern media that had been consistently ignoring the child's world.

The venture was introduced as an attempt to stimulate the generation of quality and affordable material for children in Tamil Nadu. M. Anandakrishnan, former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, released the CDs.

He said that it was troubling to see the media presenting tales of superstition and horror while parents were losing the skills and time for storytelling.

Stories help stimulate a child's imagination and creativity and should be geared towards that end, Prof. Anandakrishnan said.

Writer Paamaran said children were put to great mental strain by the unreasonable expectations from both parents and the education system.

Commercial music currently dominated the audio CDs segment and that the quality of audio production even in animation productions left much to be desired, said Anto Peter of Softview Visual Communication.

Felicitated

`Vaanoli Anna' Koothabiran, who had conducted programmes for children on All India Radio for more than two decades, was felicitated.

The audio CDs have been produced as `copyleft' documents and can be replicated and distributed without prior permission.

On the web

All the stories in the collection are available on the web for free download at indianopensource.org. One CD was given to those present at the event.

One will be distributed with the next issue of the monthly magazine `Computer Ulagam.'

The other three CDs are available at all Bharathi Puthahalayam outlets for Rs. 30 each.