It’s not just about story-telling

Dubai: “Eyes nose, eyes nose, eyes nose, eyes nose, eyes nose, toes,” exhorts Veena Gandhi as a bunch of bright-eyed kids try following her pace by rapidly touching their eyes and nose.

“This is my way of getting to know them. If I have to hold their attention for one hour I better become friends with them,” said Gandhi, who is about to conduct a story-telling session with them.

She says today’s kids are so much into their iPhones and iPads/tablets that the age-old tradition of grandma weaving many a grand fable on cold nights has all but died out.

Gandhi wants to revive this tradition. “I don’t just read a story, I enact one. How else do you hold their attention?”

She is a master storyteller and kids just love the way she plays out each character narrating the timeless stories with passion and drama, transporting the kids into the magical world of fairies and fables.

“If you read a story, children are bored, but when they are enacted with dramatics thrown in, they stay attentive.

“There are a number of reasons why I decided to conduct story-telling sessions. Firstly, children are addicted to TV and gadgets. If they are nurtured from a very young age, their mindset can be modified to develop an interest in reading and the arts,” she said.

During the story session, Gandhi reads out three books — ‘Mum and dad make me laugh’, ‘Curious George goes to the Costume Party’ and ‘Pete the Cat wears white shoes.’

Children are later quizzed on their favourite character and asked to draw them on paper.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” asks Veena of three-year old Zyna Zulqadar. “I want to be a princess,” comes the quick reply.

Her mother Hifsa told XPRESS, “Today is her first day, but she will be a regular. Most times she is watching TV and cartoons and I want her to get interested in books,” said Hifsa.

“She is normally shy, but today I am very surprised to see her interacting so much. The story telling session has opened her up completely.”