Vijayiakshmi Nagaraj
READING …… A SOOTHING BALM
VIJAYLAKSHMI NAGARAJ,
EDUCATIONIST, AUTHOR STORYTELLER
NAMASKAR ….GREETINGS TO ALL OF YOU.
MANY YEARS AGO A LITTLE GIRL HAD A SEVERE ATTACK OF JAUNDICE AND SHE HAD TO BE IN BED FOR SIX MONTHS. IMAGINE HER CRISIS?
WHAT GAVE HER IMMENSE JOY WAS STORIES. STORIES READ TO HER BY HER FATHER’S FRIENDS. EVERYDAY THEY WOULD TAKE TURNS TO COME FROM THEIR OFFICE AND SPEND THEIR LUNCH BREAK READING STORIES TO A LITTLE GIRL LYING SICK IN BED.
THE HEALING PROCESS HAD BEGUN EMOTIONALLY, PSYCHOLOGICALLY AND JOYFULLY THAT LITTLE GIRL IS HERE IN FRONT OF YOU TODAY……YOURS TRULY.
YES , THAT IS WHEN I BELIEVED THAT READING TO CHILDREN CAN BE AN EFFECTIVE REMEDY TO EASE THE PAIN, CHEER THEM UP AND TRANSPORT THEM TO A MAGICAL WORLD OF BEAUTIFUL STORIES.
IN MY PRESENTATION “ READING -- A SOOTHING BALM”
I INTEND SHARING WITH YOU MY HANDS ON EXPERIENCE WITH CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH CRISIS DUE TO ILLNESS, NATURAL CALAMITY AND CONFLICT SITUATION.
CHILDREN IN CRISIS SITUATIONS UNDERGO TRAUMA. WE ARE AWARE THAT TRAUMA LEADS TO AN EMOTIONAL SHOCK WHICH CAN HAVE A LASTING EFFECT..
HOSPITALIZATION….NOW ABOUT CRISIS DUE TO HOSPITALIZATION……
SEISTA TIME OVER AND THE CHILDREN HAVE HAD THEIR MILK. ITS FOUR PM AS I ENTER THE PLAYROOM IN THE PAEDIATRIC WARD OF THE ARMY RESEARCH AND REFERAL HOSPITAL, NEW DELHI.
MY HANDS ARE FULL AS I CARRY JOJO, GAURI, BANDER,JEENU , CHANCHAL, MOTI…..YES, ALL MY HANDCRAFTED PUPPETS AND THE BOOKS . …. ANYTIME STORIES, SUN MAGIC, THE CURLY TAIL, JHILMIL THE BUTTERFLY ETC.
THE CHILDREN SMILE AS I ENTER .
SOME OF THESE CHILDREN ARE SUFFERING FROM LEUKAEMIA, SOME FROM HEART PROBLEMS, RENAL PROBLEMS OR HAVE UNDERGONE SURGERY. THEY ARE ALL IN SOME DEGREE OF PAIN.
I START READING TO THEM AS THEY PLAY WITH MY PUPPETS .
KULJEET A NINE YEAR OLD INTERRUPTS. (HE HAS COME FROM AMRITSAR IN PUNJAB, FOR HIS CHEMOTHERAPY.) "I LOVE TO READ 'SUN MAGIC'” I PROMISE HIM THE BOOK . HE SMILES AT ME.
SHEETAL HAS HAD A SURGERY AND SHE IS ENGROSSED IN THE STORY THAT I READ TO HER . THE MOTHERS TOO LISTEN KEENLY, HOLDING THEIR AILING CHILDREN IN THEIR ARMS.
THE AGE GROUP VARIES FROM BABES IN ARMS TO ELEVEN AND TWELVE YEAR OLDS.
FOR THOSE FEW HOURS I HAVE TAKEN THEM AWAY FROM ACUTE PAIN AND TRAUMA TO A FUNFILLED SESSION OF READING . I ENACT THE STORY TOO…..BECOMING A CLOWN NOW, AN ELEPHANT OR A MONKEY. THEY LAUGH, THEIR MOTHERS SMILE………….DIDI AAPNE HAMARE BACHON KO KHUSH KAR DIYA. ( YOU HAVE MADE OUR CHILDREN SO HAPPY.)
EIGHT-YEAR-OLD LAKHBIR , WAS TERMINALLY ILL. DURING HIS LAST DAYS HE ASKED FOR ME TO READ TO HIM. I TOLD HIM MANY STORIES. I GAVE HIM A BOOK TO COLOUR. HE KEPT IT UNDER HIS PILLOW. THE NEXT DAY HIS BED WAS EMPTY, HE HAD PASSED AWAY THAT NIGHT. I HAD A LUMP IN MY THROAT , TEARS GLISTENED IN MY EYES……
THE OTHER CHILDREN TUGGED AT MY SARI WAITING FOR THOSE MAGICAL WORDS “ ONCE UPON A TIME……. TAKE US AWAY TO STORYLAND…. THE DOCTORS LOOKED AT ME AND SAID “ YOUR STORIES ARE LIKE A BALM, WE DO OUR BEST WITH TREATMENT BUT YOU GIVE THEM JOY AND MAKE THEM SMILE, EVEN IF FOR A FEW DAYS.”
I LEAVE FOR THE NEXT HOSPITAL WHERE THERE ARE DIFFERENTLY –ABLED CHILDREN…… SITTING ON THEIR MOTHERS LAPS. PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED, AUTISTIC AND SPASTIC CHILDREN. READING TO THEM SLOWLY WITH GESTURES WOULD MAKE THEM SMILE AND SOMETIMES CLAP. EYES WHICH WOULD JUST GAZE LISTLESSLY WOULD LIGHT UP.
THE OLDER OF THE BOYS (SITTING ON HIS MOTHERS LAP) SPOKE FOR THE FIRST TIME INCOHERENTLY, HE WAS TRYING TO REPEAT THE WORDS…….HAAATHI (ELEPHANT) BIILI( CAT) HIS MOTHER WAS OVERJOYED…….’ OH MEMSAAB, MERA BETA BOL RAHA HAI, KUCH BOL RAHA HAI, WO KHUSH HAI KAHANI SUN KE.” (MY SON HE IS TRYING TO SAY SOME THING , HE IS HAPPY LISTENING TO YOUR STORIES.)
SLOWLY BUT SURELY I WOULD WATCH FOR REACTIONS WHILE READING BOOKS . SOMETIMES THERE WERE MANY, SOMETIMES NONE. BUT I DID NOT STOP ……. I READ ON……MIMI AND THE BUFFALO, GRASSHOPPER, THE GREEDY MOUSE AND SO ON ….
I SET UP THE READING ROOM FOR THESE CHILDREN . I TRAINED VOLUNTEERS TO READ TO THEM . THEY WERE HAPPY TO SPEND AN HOUR OR TWO EACH DAY READING TO THEM.
IT WAS AN EMOTIONALLY REWARDING MOMENT FOR THE VOLUNTEERS AND THE SPECIAL CHILDREN.
THE NEXT SEGMENT IS ON CRISIS DUE TO NATURAL CALAMITY. “ I AM SO HAPPY YOU CAME AND STAYED WITH ME , YOU PLAYED WITH ME , YOU READ TO ME . WHEN WILL YOU COME AGAIN AND STAY WITH ME.” THESE WERE WORDS THE WORDS OF SELVI AS I WAS LEAVING NAGAPATTINAM . SHE HAD LOST BOTH HER PARENTS AND BROTHER TO THE TSUNAMI IN DEC 2004.
NAGAPATTINAM IS A FISHING TOWN ON THE EAST COAST OF TAMIL NADU, INDIA. HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN WERE ORPHANED.
PHYSICAL NEEDS ……SHELTER, FOOD AND CLOTHES WERE TAKEN CARE OF. WHAT ABOUT THEIR EMOTIONAL , MENTAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS?
THE AUTHORITIES INVOLVED IN THE RELIEF AND REHABILITATION PROGRAMME AGREED THAT EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALING WAS VERY IMPORTANT AND PROMISED ALL ASSISTANCE .
I VOLUNTEERED TO GO AND STAY WITH THE CHILDREN AND HELP THEM . I WAS THEN STAYING IN JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN.
I WENT IN MAY 2005 TO NAGAPATTINAM. THEY WATCHED IN SILENCE WHILE I DISPLAYED LOTS OF COLOURFUL BOOKS. …… ANYTIME STORIES, CHITKU, JHILMIL THE BUTTERFLY, GRANNY’S SARI, AND MANY MORE IN TAMIL AND ENGLISH.
THEY WOULD NOT SPEAK ABOUT THAT HORRIBLE DARK MORNING, THEY SOMETIMES CRIED IN THEIR SLEEP. THE TRAUMA WAS INTENSE. I JUST STAYED WITH THEM.
I SANG AND READ TO THEM , DANCED AND PLAYED WITH THEM..
THEY SAW , TOUCHED AND SLOWLY TURNED THE PAGES OF THE BOOKS ON DISPLAY. THE ILLUSTRATIONS ATTRACTED THEM AND SOON IT WAS ….TELL US MORE STORIES , SOME MORE STORIES.
THEY EMERGED FROM THEIR SILENT COCOONS AND SAT AROUND ME. LITTLE STEPHAN STOPPED SUCKING HIS THUMB AND JOINED IN THE CLAPPING, HARINI STOPPED CRYING, SHANTI WOULD POINT TO A BOOK SHE WANTED , RAMESH WOULD ASK FOR A PARTICULAR STORY TO BE READ AND SO ON…….
THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS EMOTIONAL HEALING HAD TAKEN WINGS. THEY WANTED TO FLY LIKE “JHILMIL THE BUTTERFLY.”
THE HUMOROUS STORIES MADE THEM LAUGH, THE MYSTERY STORIES EXCITED THEM, THE BOOK ON MAGIC FASCINATED THEM.
I GAVE THEM VALUE ADDED EMOTIONAL SUPPORT BY READING TO THEM.
IT WAS VERY VISIBLE AND THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT WHEN THERE IS A NATURAL CALAMITY, BE IT EARTHQUAKES, FLOODS, OR THE TSUNAMI,
READING IS LIKE A BALM THAT SOOTHES THE MIND AND SOUL.
INCIDENTALLY, THIS READING TO RECOVERY PROGRAMME WAS INITIATED BY AWIC INDIAN BBY.
FINALLY, IN CRISIS DUE TO CONFLICT SITUATIONS
I TOUCH UPON MILITANCY AND TERRORIST AFFECTED AREAS THE BOMB BLASTS, GUNSHOTS, BLOOD AND DEATH…….
FAMILIES LOSE LOVED ONES, CHILDREN BECOME HOME LESS ,
THERE IS INTENSE DANGER AT ALL TIMES.
CHILDREN ARE THE WORST AFFECTED THEIR MINDS NEED TO BE DISTRACTED FROM THE VIOLENCE AROUND THEM…..THEY NEED EMOTIONAL STABILITY A PEACEFUL LIFE.
IN SCHOOLS RUN IN MILITANCY HIT AREAS, I LAND UP WITH MY BAG OF BOOKS. THE CHILDREN SIT IN A CIRCLE AND LOOK AT THE PICTURES OF ICE CREAM AND MOUNTAINS, BIRDS AND FLOWERS, THE ELEPHANT AND TIGERS, PEACOCKS AND CLOUDS….THE KINGS AND QUEENS, PRINCE , PRINCESSES AND FAIRIES.
THE MAGIC HAS BEGUN……….THE STORIES TRANSPORT THEM TO HAPPY TIMES AND PRETTY LANDS . THE SOUND S OF GUNS AND VIOLENCE IS ECLIPSED BY THE BEAUTY OF LIFE.
CHILDREN ARE INNOCENT AND THEY FORGET EASILY,
THE PAIN, TRAUMA AND CRISIS …….FOR READING PROVIDES THE HEALING TOUCH..
IN CONCLUSION , I AM CONVINCED THAT READING CAN BE USED AS A THERAPY BEYOND THE CONVENTIONAL.
THE RESPONSE FROM A LARGE SEGMENT OF THE MEDICAL CIRCLE IN INDIA HAS INDEED BEEN POSITIVE.
I CREATE AWARENESS AND HELP TRAIN VOLUNTEERS AND CARE GIVERS TO UNDERSTAND BIBLIOTHERAPY ……THE THERAPY WHERE READING PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE EMOTIONAL AND PSYCOLOGICAL HEALING OF CHILDREN IN CRISES. TRULY A SOOTHING BALM.
THANK YOU.