For the love of reading

There's a Marathi saying that states that it takes a village to raise a child. And 45-year-old actress Geetanjali Kulkarni is doing just that with her venture Goshtaranga, a literacy project aimed at helping children from villages and tribal areas in Maharashtra develop an affinity for reading via plays about books, thus increasi­ng their interest in completing their education. The project is part of the library programme of Quality Education Support Trust, and Kulkarni will be talking about her efforts at an event in Byculla on Sunday, which will also include demonstrations.

They take age-appropriate books for schoolchildren, and perform skits and readin­gs for kids in class 1 to class 7. "These kids don't speak Marathi at home, so it's not a language they are familiar with outside of school. Also, there's no culture of reading in these tribes and the children are first-generation school-goers. So, this habit has to be cultivated in the classroom and it's the teachers' responsibility," Kulkarni says, adding that there's not much reading material available th­e­re except a few hoardings and newspapers. And as the su­­bjects become more co­m­plex, they can't understand it, leading them to drop out after class 7 or 8. "A lot of work needs to be done on improving their language skills," she adds.

While those in class 1 and 2 get books with less content, books like filmmaker Devashish Makhija's Ali Becomes Bajrang Bali are brought to life via theatre performances for the older students. "We want to provoke them to think or get introduced to a subject which is different from their world. We have children's literature from around the world and also those carrying crucial societal messages like gender equality," informs Kulkarni from a village in Palghar, where she resides when she's not in the city for work.

The open-to-all event will also include the screening of a film about their works over the past three years.

A play Geetanjali Kulkarni put up in an Ashram school as part of the initiative

On: May 12, 5 pm
At: BDL Museum, 91 A, Rani Baug, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Road, Byculla East.
Call: 23731234
Log on to: (to register) bookmyshow.com

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