SOULspace

  You can watch the You tube video here  December 3rd is called as International Day of Persons with Disabilities. So to mark this day have chosen another book in my series called  Picture Books & Me - #2! Chuskit Goes to School from Pratham To my knowledge one of the earliest Picture books published about a child with disability. This story is very real to me as I too had a student in my Special Ed class, (so long ago) who really wanted to go to school! I have written a sweet story about her over here  .  She will always be in my heart as the one who showed up to School with so much excitement. That was a year of learning for me. I was a rookie teacher, but acting as if I knew what I was doing.  Another day, another book, another memory. ssstoryteller

  A short Video clip Shorts in the Dark - an event by CATS (Coimbatore Arts and Theatre Society) hosted by ITC - WelcomeHotel, Coimbatore... The script- The Waltz , a play by octogenarian writer and activist Vithal Rajan given to us by founder KV Siddhartha of CATS... The players - 2 actors (Pradeep Yuvaraj and Me) who are taking to scripted stage after many many years...and have 20 minutes to portray an elderly couple and their contemplation of life, illness and death. The director - Rohini Sivalingam, for whom this was her first directorial process, came with clarity on what she wanted, amazing visualisation and an understanding of stage craft... It was... an experience of a life time! Perhaps the first of many more!! As a Storyteller I am used to freestyling and improvising on stage, but as an Actor, it was a huge learning - 👌Learning lines and remembering them was one part, delivering it with correct expression and body language and making it look like a dialogue and not a mon...

  Picture Books & Me   - Book 1 - Salim Mamoo & Me (click on link to watch) I joined the Diploma in Narrative Practices offered by Narrative Practices India in the year 2023 - 24 and through that did my first foreign solo trip to Nepal! I did not blog about it... I discovered a whole dimension to Picture Books during the exploration and diploma. Though I have been using picture books to tell stories, I realized I was missing out on the illustrations and the value pictures add to the storyline.  I did not blog about it... Finally I decided to blog about this: talking about one Picture Book that catches my attention and my personal connect to it. I plan to make short videos and upload on You - tube.  These explorations will be organic and spontaneous and not as a promo for the book or the author. It is my way to capture my relationship with stories and images in picture books! Salim Mamoo & Me: The book opens with little Zai, all of 6 years who tells us hav...

 Update:  You can watch a telling of this story on the Federation of Asian Storytellers Story Spotlight 2026: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_THJaxcxaY&t=1s ~~~  This is a story of Serendipity- of finding something valuable by chance! Recently at CSF 2025 (Chennai Storytelling Festival), I shared a folktale from Assam, an eco - feminist retelling of Joymala - The Elephant Queen - As I delved into the story many images stayed with me, the woman - nature bonding and even her passivity until she is pushed to the brink...literally! There was a word that became the fulcrum of the story - Jhari - and I went on an adventure trying to find out what it means. Some authors had interpreted it as silk threads (Tamil origin perhaps), while others called it a vessel used for worship.  I caught this thread and saw images online of bronze/ silver vessel used in Newari culture and worship.... In the folktale, A Golden Jhari is carried by Joymala into the kingdom of elephants, a...

  50 things that make me Happy!  Gratitude rewires our brain and so does affirmations and positive statements. As I give Thanks to all that I have, this human mind will also wish for that little bit more. I wish that every positive dream of mine comes true and this list of 50 things, that is what I gift myself this year as I turn another year older!  50 Things that Make me Happy!! 1) Drinking sweet Ginger Tea! 2) Watching a mesmerizing sunrise or a sunset on the beach! 3) Sitting and talking to a friend on the sandy beach,watching the waves crashing onto the shore! 4) Taking long car drives with music playing! 5) Chatting with my daughter and son and loitering in the land of myriad meanderings! 6) Sipping hot coffee from my husband's steaming cup - just a sip! 7) Wearing a new dress that looks good! 8) Making and serving some delish food to my family or friends! 9) When friends and family enjoy what I make for them! 10) Choosing and buying a gift for a friend and they lik...

  Like all stories, mine is a nested story. Stories within stories. Yet it starts at the very beginning - a very good place to start. When we sing we begin with DO RE ME , when we read we begin with ABC, when we tell a story we begin with... One upon a time.... there lived a 10 year old who knew a huge big tree! We had a huge tree near our lunch ground in school and the moment bell rang we would call dibs on who would get to climb the tree and eat while sitting on it. Life was full of adventure. The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton was my favorite book growing up and climbing trees was my favorite thing to do. Every day was an adventure. I was the Flame of the Forest ( Gul Mohur) bursting into movement, full of curiosity, colour and carefree was what everyone who met me told me. At that young age of 10 years, of curiosity and adventure, 40 seemed so far away and old. 50 was the age my mother would go onto have her first grandchild! I am now 49 years old and turning 50 ...