Adding More Colours to Life

Colours touch our lives in various forms and my idea was to explore them with Ojas & Tejas.

We started with the simple bilingual book Rangoli from Tulika which vividly describes the simplest form of home decoration. I do not make rangolis or alpanas on a regular basis. Infact only last year I made my first attempt to make a flower rangoli on Diwali. But the kids got a general idea of what a rangoli is. It was reinforced this year on Holi when we made a rangoli using simple chalk to outline a pattern and abeer to fill in the colours.

Infact way back in college we used the rock salt and colors to make large, bold patterns for our college functions.

So back to the book- it describes various medium for making rangoli, the various names for this form of decor and different places where it manifests itself as we train our eyes to look for the familiar patterns that are sort of built as we go. So now the kids are demanding that I get a sticker rangoli for the home, as mentioned in the book. The next book we picked up was Colour Colour Kamini. (which the kids often mispronounce as Kamina btw). An interesting tale from the Bahadur stable... which explains the concept of camoflague in chameleons. Kids enjoy the book because the visual details are extremely vivid and therefore it is very easy for them to read along as I point out the colours and corresponding words. We like the picture of Kapila aunty - she looks hilarious. Black and white are colours too. I picked up Dancing on the walls because of my own fascination with Warli art! And the fact that I have a frame with a Warli-ish border- so that it becomes easy to explain the kids about this form of art. Extremely simple slice of life book which is based on the ever present wish of a child to see a smile or hear a word of appreciation from their parents. A whimsical tale of how Warli art might have been born! I simply love these type of tales that enables you to make a flight of fancy - maybe as the kids grow we could make it into a game- How do you think "item 1 " was born? or Why do you think God made "item 2"?

This is a book which is a little more difficult for the kids for now but conceptually vibrant and familiar - explains various mediums used for colouring - chalk, colour pencils, and even organic dyes. I wish they would have expanded on the organic dyes bit but I guess it was left to the imagination

I also saw the book- The boy who loved colours which is worth exploring. I am kicking myself for not picking it up in a moment of indescretion and rationalization! In posterity, it does sound more interesting and relevant than Sabari's colours for the kids now!

pic courtsey- Tulika books