Opening a Razai Box!

From its vast treasure box, publishing house Katha brought Geeta Dharmarajan’s book Ma Ganga and the Razai Box for a storytelling and activity session at Oxford Bookstore, Statesman House, on Friday January 12.

Ma Ganga and the Razai Box is the story of a young village girl Yasho who is determined to make her village green and beautiful. As we all know, Ganga is the life line of many states. This is a delightful tale that combines mythology and contemporary environmental issues and emphasizes the call of the hour today, to save our planet.

The author, Geeta Dharmarajan, loves writing stories for children. Earlier, she conceived and edited a children’s magazine called Tamasha!, named after a big fat elephant created by her. She has 16 books and over 400 published pieces to her credit.

Sonali Biswas is the recipient of the Chitra Katha Award 2003 for Outstanding Illustrations for Katha publication, One Lonely Unicorn, a story-counting book. She has also received the Runner-Up award from Noma Concours for Children’s Book Illustrations in 2000 and an Honourable Mention at the Biennial of Asian Illustrators, Japan in 2002.

Mrs Nupur Awasthi conducted the storytelling session and the workshop explored issues related to River Ganga, its geography, role in the economy, the wildlife and threat to its existence.

After the storytelling, the children were asked to express the story in drawing. Sonali Biswas judged the artwork. Srishti Rawat of St Mary’s, Saksham and Dhoopchayya of Bluebells won the first, second and third prizes respectively.

About 30 students from Classes IV, V and VI of St Mary’s School, Dwarka and Bluebells School International, Kailash Colony participated in the workshop.

Media Relations in Delhi:Lakshmi Ramakrishna
Katha, A 3 Sarvodaya Enclave, New Delhi