Learning is no child’s play

Kolkata for Kids, a TOI initiative, brought together three workshops in the city that had youngsters honing their skills
A classical music workshop, a guitar workshop and a photography workshop organized in different parts of the city on Wednesday and Thursday as part of Kolkata for Kids, an initiative of The Times of India, saw the presence of kids and parents in large nu m b e r s, despite the rain playing spoilsport.The Music Kafe on SP Mukherjee Road witnessed a bunch of budding guitarists, eagerly following the instructions of Vikramjit ‘Tuki’ Banerjee. “Take a chord and make it sound as good as you can,” instructed Tuki, while the kids sat patiently strumming their guitars. It wasn’t a standard pattern-based guitar lesson as the kids were taught the ‘guitar architecture’ that helped them churn out beautiful tunes with simple chords. From basics to funk, Tuki taught them all.
At the ICCR, Pandit Vijay Kichlu was busy teaching another bunch of kids the nuances of classical music. The participants began their lesson with ‘arohan’, ‘aborohan’ and went on to learn raag Yaman Kalyan, Bhairavi, Bihag and others. Panditji made things easy for them as he explained what a raag was and the rules that one should follow while singing. “To communicate with kids is the purest form of interaction. At a time when classical music is facing a serious threat, this workshop comes across as a noble endeavour,” he told TOI.
The art of photography was taken to another level as Sanat Ghosh transformed his classroom into an adda session with the participants. “We are friends and we are here to just share ideas,” smiled Sanat as he showed his students the various innovative things that can be done with the camera. The kids also had a first-hand experience with a Rangefinder and a Large Format digital camera that is used at international advertisement projects. He also cleared doubts concerning shutter speed and aperture.
Suchismita Dutta