In the magical world of Ul-Albela, Jhumpa, an orphan armed with a hamper of curiosity and spirit of adventure takes a seemingly innocuous decision. And what is that decision? Jhoompa wants to make the best tea in the world. As she takes on the mantle to be the best tea maker, she’s unaware of the hornet’s nest she has stirred in the Bat Kingdom. The Raja’s bumbling,floundering ministers are desperate to please their aggressively competitive king! And Jhumpa’s tea making quest becomes an adventure that unfolds when the two worlds, Jhumpa’s and the Bat Kingdom’s, collide! Will Jhumpa’s life ever be the same again?

Jhoom Jhoom Jhumpa urges the audience to live Jhumpa’s wonderful journey on stage, transporting them to become one with the world of the child. Innocence, love and a spirit of inquiry transcends all odds and help us lead happier, more empathetic and compassion filled lives. Like Jhoompa, we learn the value of hard work, commitment, friendship and positive optimism.

Jhoom Jhoom Jhumpa uses theatrical devices effectively to create magic onstage, and lure the audience to this make believe world. The play also presents exciting story-telling possibilities. The play uses physical movement, music -both  live and recorded – innovative and evocative design, costumes, and light to create a unique theatrical experience.

Written and directed by Sapan Saran, with live music and powerful performances by the actors, Jhoom Jhoom Jhumpa was a fitting finale to bring down the curtain on NCLF 2019.

Buttress your CQ with imagination laced in the realm of fantasy

Simi Srivastava, founder of Kathashala discovered her passion for storytelling serendipitously while she was doing her teacher’s training. She gave up her corporate career to seek intellectual satisfaction and follow her passion for working with students and teachers and since then she has been narrating stories and working on the art of storytelling. Simi is a soft skills, life skills trainer and a performing artist. She is professionally trained in theatre, creative music and movement, miming, puppetry and uses all these to narrate stories.
Extremely engaging with a genuine penchant for theatre, Simi was a delight with her theatrical skills, fabulous storytelling and meaningful interface to rejig creative instincts peppered with imagination and understanding of life.

From fact to fantasy – Walk the path with Deepa Agarwal

Acclaimed author, poet and translator, Deepa Agarwal writes for both children and adults and has fifty published books to her credit. She has received several awards for her work globally. She transmuted seamlessly from nonfiction writer to novels, poems when she chose poetry over pragmatism and discovered her forte.
“When you write, you have to see the world through a child’s eyes” she says. She feels it is important to address real life issues relevant to the genre that you represent through your book

Cementing creativity with values, not morals Deepa Agarwal explored relevant themes like friendship through her books and activities in her sessions at NCLF 2019, engaging the students to build perspectives on how to make everyday issues of their lives the stuff of fiction.

Give Your Pen a Shot – Overdose on Creativity with Ms Chatura Rao

Journalist, story maker and award winning author, Chatura Rao stumbled writing books for children when her publishers told her, her book (which she wrote for herself, when she was in her 30’s) was meant for children. Her session, Wings! Spotting the Magical in the Ordinary was exactly that, magical. Students loved exploring fantasy and imagination to enrich the humdrum of everyday life.

ThinkArts @NCLF 2019

Ruchira Das, Founder and Director, ThinkArts with Tamali Bhattacharya, core administrator and Abheri Dutta, core member of ThinkArtsconducted sessions in creative writing with the participants. Build your own storiesgave the students an exposure to link art and literature, and What are young adults reading today was an eye opening session to popular reading lists for young people globally.
Young adults are exposed to a variety of content and the emerging paradigms of language and literature is changing the way they understand and perceive literature. The interaction with ThinkArts enabled students to understand and consciously apply their learning to life.

Unravel your stories with Rituparna Ghosh

Rituparna Ghosh has also been a regular interface in NCLF. As someone who excels in adapting and recreating stories of authors to make them relevant to her audience, her sessions are packed with creativity, imagination and passion for reviving the art of storytelling in order to discover the innate storyteller within us. In her session, Ray Resurrected, she adapted a story of Satyajit Ray to give the audience a feel of how stories can come alive with your own interpretation of it.
Her session, What’s in your story bag helped students tell the stories of their life and realize that fact and stories are really an intricate weave which dissipates if separated.

Doodling with the Maestro, Ajit Narayan

Mr Ajit Narayan, well known illustrator and cartoonist has been a pioneer with his workshops for students. Mr Narayan in his session will learn the art of humorous drawings, with detailed visual examples. He engaged the participants with a wide variety of practical hands-on exercises designed to develop and strengthen key skills.

The students were delighted with insider tips, and master special techniques that he shared with them. His USP was that he made cartooning fun and students explored the joy of bringing cartoons to life.
“All the kids need is a pencil, eraser, art file and of course, their imagination!” he said.