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The problem of heavy bags to school
Today, there was an article in the Times of India, about the difficulty and health-hazards of growing kids carrying heavy bags to the school. The problem of heavy school bags being carried by our kids seems to be there forever. I never understood the purpose of carrying textbooks to the school, when I studied in school over two decades ago I never did. In the school, as a parent, I expect the teachers to lecture and the students to write them down in their notebooks – I see (correct me, if I am being naive on this) there is little reason to study from the textbooks in the class. Hope…
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The Lion King (2019)
It was fun to watch The Lion King in Tamil (தி லயன் கிங்) in Tamil. The story and the characters were (almost) the same as in the original animated film that released in 1994 and became a super-hit for Disney. The photorealistic animation in this release was unbelievably good. Hearing Simba, Scar, Nala, Zazu and other characters speak in the voice of famous Tamil film stars Siddharth, Arvind Swami, Aishwarya Rajesh and Manobala added to the entertainment. Go for this film, enjoy it with your kids.
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Toy Story 4 (2019)
Unbelievable it was almost twenty-five years that the first instalment in this franchise, Toy Story (1995) got released. That film catapulted Pixar and the whole category of animated movies to new levels. The next two instalments Toy Story 2 and 3 that came in 1999 and 2010, kept the excitement alive of watching Toys being able to walk and talk, anthropomorphism in short. There is only so much you can extend a franchise with sequels, so I was sceptical about Toy Story 4. Surprisingly, Disney has succeeded in producing a great film that people of all ages can enjoy. Toy Story 4 has the simplest of a story line and…
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A children’s book that celebrate extraordinary women
A few weeks ago, a cousin in the USA, got this book from Amazon India through me for her little girl kids. The book is titled “The Dot that went for a walk” containing 51 short stories written by Sarada Akkineni, Reema Gupta and Lakshmi Nambiar and published by Caterpillar Wing. On opening the book, I realised it was a special book – every story was about extraordinary women from India including artists, scientists, politicians, and many more. It even had activity charts! At Rs.649, the book is not cheap, but it is a hardbound coffee table style book that is worth every penny spent. A must-read by every kid, get…
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Break the rules
Rules are meant to be broken in India. Even our kids do that! No training is required. Seen in the picture above is my son during a vacation trip in 2005. #rules #vacation #india #kids_of_our_world
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Art exhibits at Chennai International Airport
The Chennai International Depature Terminal has setup a few art exhibits near the gates and they look great – I guess it is of courtesy of Tamil Nadu Government Handicreaft Department (Poompuhar). There are exhibits depicting popular games played by children of Tamil Nadu.
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Oswald (TV Series)
There is a timeless beauty to simplicity. More than a decade ago, when my son was a few years old, I remember watching a TV series for kids on Cartoon Network. Originally made by Nickelodeon, “Oswald” was about a fun-loving octopus living with his friends in a neighbourhood of a big city. The main characters apart from Oswald, are “Weenie” which is Oswald’s pet dog, and Oswald’s friends – “Henry” the Penguin and “Daisy” is a tall daisy. Seeing the characters, I wished my life was as simple as Oswald’s. Each episode is brief at 12 minutes and nothing unpleasant happens – everyone is nice and helpful. There are 52…
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Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
Disney is the undisputed leader when it comes to making animated films that both kids and adults adore. I always notice their brilliance in the way they bring out human emotions in all their characters whether they are toys, animals or princesses. Ralph breaks the Internet (2018) – The story is about two friends – Ralph and Vanellope, both are virtual characters in two arcade games that are in an old video game centre. Due to a mishap, they travel outside their consoles to the Internet to look for a missing spare to keep their game alive. Picturising living beings and objects with physical form are one thing, but how do…
