Remember the story of Kaka and Munni? The nasty crow and the smart sparrow have been a reason of joy for many children who have read or heard the story. Illustrated and retold by Natasha Sharma in the most creative way, this book has been an absolute delight for many children.
Natasha sold watches, coffee and pizzas as a brand manager before discovering her true calling. She says that the urge to doing something different was responsible for her being a writer. She also illustrated her first book with Pratham Books which was a leap from words to pictures. She now writes, illustrates, and holds readings of her books.
Natasha recently visited the children at the balwadi at Padmavati Saraiya Kendra in the Matunga labour camp, Dharavi in Mumbai and conducted two sessions for the morning and afternoon batches of children.
She read out Kaka and Munni to them in Hindi which was quite an enjoyable experience. Tapping the tambourine to the parts in verse and with a little crow puppet accompanying her along through the story, she had a good time talking about the village life in Punjab. The discussion about the contrast between the small village and the big city made them think and talk about the differences.
 |
| Artwork by students. |
She also talked about collage and how the pictures in the book had been created using it. The children were left with sheets of paper that had a tree with bare branches drawn on and colourful kite paper to add on leaves in many colours. The collage activity increased the excitement and enthusiasm levels to great heights.
Natasha says that the effort and experience was worthwhile since the children enjoyed listening to the story as well as understanding what a writer and illustrator does.