Introducing our new AWESOME and MAMMOTH Production
Sounds interesting…….? Go on then, read on…..
Flashback to when we snuggled up with a book and were transported into a land of friends, kings, queens, warriors, fairies, animals and trees that would talk, mountains that moved and oceans that vanished in the blink of an eye (or the flip of a page)! We grew up with these stories and learned some very important life lessons from them too. Anytime we felt low, we could pick up our favourite book and get back to our fantasy world. Just like that.
Forward to today and all we see is life literally flashing by. Everyone’s in a rush – to eat, to work, to run, to sleep and that’s it. Everything is in a mad rush and somehow, somewhere along this crazy running around, we have replaced almost everything we used, with a mobile phone. This includes leisure and the comfort of literature that we grew up with. Today’s children have no clue about the Classics of World Literature. The maximum exposure they have to World Literature is maybe Harry Potter, Manga characters and Dragons and Witches.
Since they have not seen nor heard any other stories from other lands, other cultures, they miss out on the imagination process that come with the habit of reading. The age where the mind develops fastest and is the most impressionable, needs the stimulation of good literature which is one of the most important building block in a child’s life. Sadly, today’s children are missing out on this front.
So, we at Prakasam, tired of all the mobile phones and E-Readers floating around, decided to do something about it. And yes, we all agreed that it was time to get our Great characters back! Back to the children who would enjoy watching, listening, loving, and learning from them. A big bonus – it ignites the spark of imagination in the child and increases their creative potential too!
And here we are now, with our new Awesome and Mammoth Production - The Magical Doorway to the World of Literature. Where we will take stories from across each continent and bring them to life in our very own language – Kannada and these stories will be shown across schools and colleges all over Karnataka. We aim to engage our children in stories about qualities like kindness, gratitude, honesty, and friendship, etc.
The select stories from each continent are:
1. AFRICA – ‘The Sacrificial Egg’ by Chinua Achebe: A Western-educated Igbo man, Julius, unwittingly breaks a sacrificial egg at a crossroads and becomes infected with a deadly epidemic that ravages his town and his fiancée.
2. ASIA – ‘Ivan the Fool’ by Leo Tolstoy: A generous and simple-minded peasant, Ivan, outwits the Old Devil and his three brothers, who seek wealth and power, by using his magical gifts to help others and live happily.
3. AUSTRALIA – 'A Gentleman's Agreement' by Elizabeth Jolley: A cunning and impoverished single mother tricks a wealthy and naive doctor into signing a contract that allows her and her children to live on his land for free, turning his peaceful property into a chaotic mess.
4. EUROPE - ‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar’ by Roald Dahl: A selfish and greedy gambler learns to see without his eyes from a secret yoga manuscript and uses his newfound power to win money, until he decides to change his ways and help the poor.
5. SOUTH AMERICA – ‘The Jaguar and the Little Skunk’ a Mayan Folktale: A cunning and brave little skunk goes hunting with his godfather, the jaguar, and learns how to outsmart the bigger and stronger animals.
6. NORTH AMERICA – ‘Tom Sawyer, Whitewashing the Fence’ by Mark Twain: A clever and mischievous boy, Tom, turns his punishment of painting a fence into a profitable and fun game, by tricking his friends into doing the work for him and paying him with their treasures.
Love this idea? You can be a part of it too. As you are aware, all productions need support. Be it material, manpower, financial or advertising, we need people like you to be part of this journey and make it a success. If you wish to help us bring the world literature on stage for children who have never heard of these authors or their stories, please do contribute to our production.
No donation is too small, as every drop helps us open this door to more and more young lives who are waiting to be transported to this Magical Land. If you are interested to become a part of this journey with us, please feel free to drop us a mail at prakasamtrust@gmail.com.
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