’Siraar Payilarangam’ is a big hit at Madurai Book Fair

MADURAIScores of people and children were seen flocking to the Madurai Book Fair being hosted at Tam

Scores of people and children were seen flocking to the Madurai Book Fair being hosted at Tamukkam Ground near here despite being a weekday.

The fair, jointly organised by the district administration and Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI), houses over 200 stalls offering a range of books for people of all ages.

Apart from the fair, workshops, movie screenings etc., for children have been organised for the first time at a designated space named ‘Siraar Payilarangam.’

Vani C. Sengutuvan, a historian, had the rapt attention of the packed audience, mostly government school students, as Bharatanatyam dancers enacted Panchathanthiram tales.

“As a strong believer that stories involving animals are easier to make morals reach to children, I chose Panchathanthiram tales. Moreover, narration through mere reading, rhyme or songs is quite prevalent, but I wanted to incorporate Bharatanatyam to narrate stories, hence the different take on a workshop on storytelling,” she said.

K. Selvi, a student of Class VII, who was also engaged in learning a few moves and ‘mudras’ to narrate stories said that it was her maiden attempt at the classical dance as well as storytelling which felt interesting.

Later in the afternoon, Thirumalai and Vani C. Sengutuvan shared the space to host read aloud sessions stories in Tamil and English respectively.