St. Jude, Rajarhat
Rana’s story with cutouts
20 March, 2014 Rana makes up a story with the cutout
characters that were lying on the table.
A lion, a tiger and a goat.
Rana saw the cut outs on the table and wanted
to use the cutouts to make up a story.
This was a spontaneous effort.
The story : A goat was caught by a lion
and a tiger. Both wanted to eat it. The
goat saw a huge boulder perched on top
of a mountain. He told the lion and the tiger that whoever could break the
boulder into small pieces first would
eat him. Both the lion and the tiger
tried to reach the boulder and break it .
As they touched boulder, it rolled down the mountain crushing them both.
8.11. 2014
Children present: Shubhodeep, Sandeep and Rohan.
The cutouts; 3 goats, a lion and 3 houses were placed on th table and the
children were asked whether I should tell them a story about the 3 goats and
the lion or whether they would like to use them to make up
their own story.
A prompt response from Shubhodeep : “ami
bolbo” (I will tell a story)
There
were three goats. They were very good friends.
One day a lion came to their village.
“I can help you with your studies,” he said to the three goats. The goats said,”yes.”
The
lion said, ” I have to bring my books from my house. They are very heavy. Will one of you please come and help me to
bring them here ?”
One of
the goats went with the lion. The lion killed the goat and ate him up.
Then
he went back to the other two goats and said, “The books are too heavy. Your friend and I can’t carry them. We need
one more of you.”
So the
second goat went. The lion killed him
and ate him too.
He
went back and told the third goat. “we need a little more help with the books.
Please come with me and help your friends and me to bring the books here.
The third goat went and lion killed him and ate him up.
The third goat went and lion killed him and ate him up.
Shubhodeep
is about 11 years old . He goes to school in …
ANANDO, Bijoygarh. (2014)
Saloni and Preeti Yadav aged 11 and 10
respectively. They attend Anando’s Bijoygarh Centre. The two girls were given the
cutouts used for “the three goats and
the lion/tiger”. The story is the same as the three little pigs and the wolf.
The story was not told to them. Instead they were asked to make up thir own
story with the cutouts.
Cutouts : Three little goats, a lion,
three houses one each made of straw,
sticks and bricks
“Panch
minit”, (five minutes, please) they requested.
Here is their story: There were three friends. Two goats aand a dog.
“A
dog?” I ask. (The artist had made what looked to us like three goats.
“Yes”
they said. See, his mouth is open. He’s going to bark “bhow,.” bhow.”
“OK, “
say I
“The
goats and the dog were good friends.. They lived together in a small hut, They
ate together , slept together and played together. One day, while they were
playing, the sky turned dark and it started to rain. The three friends ran
inside their house. It stopped raining . They came out of the house but were wet and covered with mud. “Oof
it’s a very small house”, one of the goats said , ‘ “One small house isn’t good
enough for the three of us. We should each build a house. “
And so
they did.
One
goat wanted to make his house of straw. “oh! It won’t be strong”, exclaimed his
two friends. “But it will be easy to make and quick too.” .
The
second goat said .
“I’ll
use sticks to make my house.”
The third
goat (the one that looked like a dog) decided
to make his house of bricks.
The
houses were ready. The three friends
continued to eat together g
One
day as they were playing …………………. they
heard a roar. “Lion! Lion! they
screamed . They huddled together in
fear. The lion sprang in with a roar.
Stopped. Looked at the three friends and pleaded, ” Please play with me.”
“Ofcourse
we will “ said the friends. They played. “Looka tappi ”
(“Looka tappi”.”The bname is a local
variant of the Bengali “Looko churi” or “hide and seek “ in English. The “DEN” has to close his eyes while the
other members hide. After a short while
he starts looking for them. The member who is caught becomes the next “den.”
But if, while the den is trying to catch someone , one of the other members
manages to get out of hiding and tap
him, he becomes “den” again )
The
lion continued to be “the den” all through because one of the three friends would tap him before he could catch one of them.
Suddenly the sky darkened and it started tot rain. “O dear!” said the lion
,”how will I go home?” “You can stay
here.” said the three friends. “We have three houses. You can live in any one
of then”. Then they all ran into the dog’s brick house . They had hot tea and pakoras. When the rain
stopped, the lion went home.”
Another version with same cut outs by
another little boy, Ashish. Ashish aged 11, also attends Anando’s sessions but
at Poddar Nagar
There
were 3 deer. They had their own homes near the forest. One deer lived in a
straw house, one in a house of sticks and one in a house of bricks . They were very good friends. They used to go
to office together come home together and eat together.
One
day a lion, who lived in the forest was very hungry. He decided to eat one of
the deer. He went in to the straw hut,
and jumbped on th deer who lived there. The other two deer heard their friend’s cry
for help and rushed to help him, They gored the lion with their antlers until
he ran away.
The
lion realised that he couldn’t kill the
goats if they were together. He would
have to get them one by one. So he went
to the first goat and said, “you are getting so thin. Your friends are eating
up all the grass in the field here.
There is plenty of fresh grass in the jungle where I live. Come, I’ll take you there
.“ The goat began to distrust his
friends.
The
lion then went to the two other goats, one by one, and told them the same thing. The three friends began suspecting each other
and their friendship begn to break up.
When
the lion saw that the goats were no longer good friends, he went to the first
friend and said, “ if you want to eat
the fresh grass inform the jungle , you better come with me to my jungle before your friends get there
They will go and eat up all the grass.” “OK. Let’s go.” said the first goat.
The
lion took the goat to his forest ,killed him and ate him up. He did the same
thing to the two other goats.
This story teaches us that there is strength in
unit. “Ekta mein bal hai.”
12.12.15
Ashish (Anando)
Cutouts : Father reindeer. Mother reindeer
and the child Rudolf, a king and a queen and a man.
Time taken to make up the story – about 15
minutes.
(I
was told, later, that this story had appeared in Cartoon Network a popular TV
channel for children. However, Ashish,
about 11 years had assimilated it
and retold it to his peers with confidence.
Once
upon a time, there was a king. He lived with his wife the queen. The king was a
very good man. There was a woman who
worked for the queen. She was not nice.
She used to carry tales from one person to another and create trouble. One day
she told the queen that she should tell the king that she wanted to eat deer
meat (venison). At first the queen refused but the woman told her that deer
meat was very tasty. It was the best meat Eventually, the queen agreed.
When the king heard the queen’s request, he was unhappy. He loved
everyone in his kingdom. People and animals alike. But the queen insisted . So he sent for the
royal huntsman (Raj shikari – a term used as used by Ashish) and instructed him
to kill a deer and get the meat for the queen .
The
raj shikari went to the forest in search
of a deer. He decided to climb a tree so
that he could spot a deed more easily.
A
family of three deer lived in that forest. A father . a mother and their young
son. While the raj shikari was looking
around for a deer from the treetop, the
mother deer walked to a shady spot under the tree. She had come to collect some medicinal
plants for her husband who was sick.
The
raj shikari was sitting on that tree. He saw the mother deer. But before he
could kill her with his bow and
arrow, an ant bit him on his leg. He
screamed and fell down but got up quickly and aimed at the deer.
“Please
don’t kill me Sir,” the pleaded. “I have come to collect some medicinal plants
for my husband. He is very sick. Please let me go home and give him the
medicines. I promise I will come back.”
“Why
should I believe you?” asked the raj shikari.
“
Because I am telling you the truth.”
“All
right.” said the raj shikari. ”But remember , I’m the rajshikari. I know this
forest very well. If you don’t come back, I will find you and your family and
kill all of you.”
The
mother deer went home. As soon as her husband saw her face, he knew something
was wrong.
“Why
are you looking so worried? What has happened?” he asked.
The
mother deer told him everything.
“Don’t
worry,” said the father deer. “I will tell him to kill me. You must live. Our
son is very young. He needs you.”
“No.
Our son will grow up better under your guidance,“ said the mother.
The
son heard the argument. “I think I should go. I am young and my meat is soft.
The king and queen will be very happy.”
The
father deer decided that they should all
go. The raj shikari could decide who he
wanted to kill.
The
raj shikari saw the deer family and said , “ Don’t think my heart will melt by
seeing you both and your little son.”
” No
Sir,” said the father. “We have come together so you can choose which of us you
want to kill. Please kill me. I am the biggest and have the most meat.”
“I was
the one you wanted to kill first. Please kill me,”said the mother
The
little deer said, “ my meat is the softest. The queen will very happy when she
eats the soft meat. Kill me.”
The
raj shikari’s heart melted. He went back
to the palace and laid his bow and arrow at the king’s feet.
“Forgive
me, Maharaj. I will not kill animals any
more, They are also members of your kingdom.
They too need your love and care.”
The
King felt very sad when the raj shikari told him about the brave deer family he
had met in the jungle. He held the raj
shikari’s hand and said , “you have done the right thing, my friend. ”
The
king soon got to know who told the queen to eat deer meat. He sent the woman out of his kingdom . Then he took the
queen to the kitchen. “Come, queen,” he said .” I have had special food made
for you.” The queen was very happy to
hear this… until she saw what the special food was. It was khichri.
“
Khichri ?” she screamed. “I hate khichri.”
“From
now on you will eat only khichri. The
animals in my forests are members of my kingdom. I will protect them’, said the
king. “ No one is allowed to kill them.
If anyone dares to kill any animals in this kingdom, I will punish him
severely.”
A couple of months later later I was informed
by the children at St. Jude’s Rajarhat that this story was from Cartoon Network
, a TV channel for children. However, to Ashish’s credit it must be acknowledged that this 11 year old
had had heard the story once , retained it and repeated it correctly. His
delivery was fluent. He did not once falter now was he ever a ta loss for the
right word. He modulated his voice well and used appropriate facial expressions
. A potential story teller
Jewish Girls School
.8. 2015 Jewish Girls School . Upper KG (These children
were younger than Saloni and Preeti .Age range 5 – 7 years
Cutouts of the 3
goats, the three houses (Straw, Sticks and bricks) , a lion.
The story teller put the goats one by one on the flannel board. As she put them on the board, the children
identified the goats and named them Ina, Mina and Tina. As at Anando , one of the goats was
identified as a dog. (The goat has it mouth open as in barking. Maybe this is the reason for
children to think it is a dog).
Then the children allotted the houses to the goats. Their lion came and said he was hungry. So biryani was made
for him . After a good meal he rested for a while and then decided to go
home. They goats said “bye” to him and started playing “pakra pakri” (I presume this is the same as “looka
tappi” that Saloni and Preeti used in their story) The lion decided to play
with them. After playing for some time, the lion returned home.
So, now our Story bank has 4 stories that use the same cutouts. I
use these stories during my sessions. The girls
like Saloni and Preeti’s story where as the boys prefer Ashish’s
version. I vary the presentations. Its
generally not a straightforward “telling” session. Interaction is imperative
REACH
25.1. 16
Cutouts: Farmer, Cow and Rakshashi (Story teller : Farhan- age 3 years)
Farhan
puts the farmer and the cow on the table. Begins telling the story. “Ekta
rakshahi elo. Goru okay khoob joray guto
marlo. Rakshahi paliye gelo.”
29. 1.16
Picture of an aeroplane. Picture of a coconut tree in a book.
Ishan (age 3 ½ years) Ekta aeroplane chilo. Lokta ta daab khelo
S.T. (Storyteller). Kon lokta ?
Ishan:
Aeroplaner lokta.
ST:
Achha. Lokta daab
kotha
thekay pelo ?
Ishan: no response
Abhijit:
Aeroplnane
gacher tola diye gelo. Lokta haath baar
koray daab peday nilo.
Oral School for Deaf Children, 5th April 2016
Cutouts: Boy, Mother. Grandmother, aunt, sister,
dog
Children : Ozair, Ashish, Adnan (little) , Sreejeeta (helped by Ozair)
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