Pick up life skills for free at Bessie

Four weeks on, Car-Free Sundays at Besant Nagar beach has made a huge impact as a knowledge and fitness hub for the residents of Chennai 

An artist is born

Children have their parents entwined around their little finger. The weenier the little finger the more entwined it gets. This truth hit Jayaprada in the eye, 350 kilometres from home. From Bengaluru, Jayaprada was visiting her cousin in Thiruvanmiyur, along with her family. A fortuitous chain of events having led her and her family to The Hindu CarFree Sundays on September 25, this wisdom dawned on her. From her brief account, she largely had a walkabout on mind, but her little son — Raghav — had other plans. He wanted to be parked at the painting station ad infinitum, and at age two, he has one of the weeniest little fingers in town.

Waving towards the ramp on the promenade, Jayaprada says, “When we were there, he saw the painting station (with its water colours) and demanded that we visit it. He is accustomed to painting at home.” But one that Sunday at Bessie, he came into his own.

Jayaprada giving in immediately, bystanders at the painting station were treated to a delectable display of off-the-cuff abstract painting. Every child had been presented with a sheet with the outline of a smiling flower they had to make colourful on the inside. Dabbed with black paint, Raghav’s little fingers were more active outside the outline than inside, and the result was the most original painting of the day. Of course, we are saying this, tongue wedged in cheek.

Learning without learning

Learning below the threshold of consciousness: Every Sunday morning, Bessie is replete with illustrations of this best learning practice. People playing badminton without a net between them; people taking a bead on a portable basketball goal post. These scenes play out in front of houses, on roads and in people’s driveway. Why would people head to a beach, forgoing a Sunday lie-in, and do these things they can do at home anyway? When asked this question, Rishi Pal from Rajasthan, who lives in Besant Nagar and is on CISF’s payroll, offered a one-word answer: “Atmosphere.” He explained: People engage these healthy activities with greater vigour, when they can notice dozens of other people have taken to it. This learning situation is particularly beneficial to little children. Rishi had brought his children — five-year-old Devansh and three-year-old Manav — to Bessie and he was not disappointed.

A game by the beach