“You must read Harry Potter,” a friend of mine told me when I was in the eighth standard. I glanced at the book lying on her desk and nodded. The book […]
Faerie Heart
Incredible. As a child, I did not like novels that were not divided into chapters. I have no idea why. The only exception was Mary Poppins. I somehow think this […]
Oranges in No Man’s Land
I find that so may writers seem to have a compulsion to write long, complex, layered work. So many new books are thick paperbacks, full of things happening on every […]
Book-Reading at Crossword, Mulund!
Opening my Eyes
At our refectory, things are beautifully, thoughtfully organised. Little children eat in one hall; older children in another. There’s no discrimination involved. The wash-basins attached to the hall for the […]
The Table Family
Have you been introduced to the Table family? When I was in school, we were kept forcibly away from the family. The Table family was a strict no-no for us. […]
Essel World
When I was ten years old, I wrote a story that won me two tickets to Essel World, and 4 tickets to Nehru Planetarium. Going to Mumbai was impossible, so […]
Hiding from Children
There are many things that you may successfully hide from adults, but simply cannot hide from children. Impoliteness is one of those things. As a child, my sister once turned […]
Butterscotch’s Washing-Machine
Ought I to be embarrassed by this one? It was written two days after my tenth birthday, when I was eager to show off newly acquired vocabulary and paragraphing abilities. […]
Lost and Found
Children leave all kinds of things behind at dance class. My teacher could set up a shop and make a fortune if she ever decided to sell the stuff children […]
Chocobar
I teach at a boarding school, where the happy Enid Blyton tuck-box has cheerfully been changed into a tuck-shop. The shop is open for about an hour in the evening, […]
Reading Stories
I was asked to read and assess stories written by Grades III and IV. What a joy that was! Of course, I had students who wrote for me the story […]
The Dictionary at School
The portion for the exams has been completed; students are fed up with revision. So, a colleague of mine decided to do something different – she read out a […]
School Bus
I’m feeling the generation gap the wrong way around again. School buses are meant for playing stone-paper-scissor, not listening to music on an iPhone. During rides in the school bus, […]
Fire Drill
I remember how, a few months ago, two girls came excitedly to me in dance class. “Miss, we had a fire drill today!” “The whole period went in the drill!” […]
More Readers?
I, Varsha Seshan, author of The Story-Catcher and English teacher at your school… … donated two books to Vishwashanti Gurukul library. One for the primary school library and one for the whole […]
Getting Lost
Sometimes, I look back and think, “What a foolish, foolish child I was.” We lived in Vashi when I was very young, and like all children, I was always happier […]
Will I ever call it junk?
How do teachers throw away cards they receive? The children I read to gave me so many cards. Some were beautiful; some were thoughtful; some were sweet. How can I […]
The Dame who Hated Plants
Another original story by seven-year-old Varsha. This one won the first prize in a story-writing competition and was published on my mother’s birthday in 1994. The word ‘dame’, for those […]
Surprise Farewell Party
A new life begins for me on the 1st of March. I’m going to stop all my hundreds of classes here and there and teach full-time in a school. Last […]