Books are a man’s best friend as we grow up with them and they in a way become our companions for life. It’s very important to inculcate the reading habit among kids as it can help to explore their creative side that is hidden due to constant exposure to multi-media.

Keeping this notion in mind, the Kala Academy along with academician, Ms Jugneeta Sudan, is conducting a day-long workshop on books on July 4 from 10.30 a.m. onwards.
Speaking about the event Ms Sudan in a press briefing on Monday mentioned that nowadays kids are bombarded with television and video games and there is nothing left for their imagination.
“Today’s video games are full of violence and contain overtones of sexuality. But books are a repertoire of profound depth and intimacy. The characters that we read in books leave indelible prints in our mind”, states Ms Sudan.
Elaborating on the current trends in children’s literature she remarked that now children do not want to read fairytales. “Even now children require shots of reality. Like the book by Ranjit Lal titled, ‘Faces in the water’ which talks about female foeticide and also the book, ‘Door No.19’ which talks about the 1984 Sikh riots. Books by J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series speak about death which was considered as a taboo for kids. I think it is very important to deal with issues like alcohol, sex and violence more responsibly through books. Thus, children can grow in a healthy environment”, remarked Ms Sudan.
She also highlighted the need to expose kids to a natural environment and learn more about the wonders of nature. She opined that developing a reading habit in children helps them to understand the world more easily.
“Most of the times kids restrain themselves from reading because of the school text books. Through this workshop we are bringing out the artistic side of kids. We will have activities like telling them to paint a particular scene from the book. Also we will look at other aspects like vocabulary, how the characters in a book are built. In short it is a blending of literature with literacy”, explains Ms Sudan.
Around 10 schools from Goa are invited to take part in this workshop. This workshop is also open for teachers as it is very important as they are the ones who guide students.
“During the workshop I will also recommend some books to teachers like ‘The Teacher’ by Frank McCourt, ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effectively People—it can Change Lives’. This book actually should be read by everyone”, confirms Ms Sudan.
For this workshop, she will first host a PowerPoint presentation which will be followed by an activity based on a book. The screening of a film that is based on book will follow next which will be then followed by a critical discussion on it.
Ms Sudan is also planning to extend this creative process by hosting such activities in schools on a monthly basis.