Celebrating Children’s Day: Bridging the divide with today’s digital generation

Children’s Day: In our childhood, from the days of our teens in the early 1970s, when we were flying kites, cycling, playing cricket, football, kho-kho, chain-chain, I Spy, and dolls house, we were also listening to Chunmun on All India Radio, watching children’s tele-serials like Malgudi Days, School Days, and Kachchi Dhoop, apart from being glued to children’s books from the Children’s Book Trust to comics that nurtured our tender minds. For us, November 14, Children’s Day, was an event to enjoy a bit extra at school and home. We were gifted children’s books to read and allowed to play the whole day!

Cut to 2024. Generation Z is largely neither into books nor celebrating Children’s Day as their own. They are glued to mobile phones, consuming everything from trash to useful content. Their innocence has shifted to concerns, violence, and grey areas.

But every problem brings a solution along. In Delhi, two kinds of people are focused on the community of children in the country: a senior citizen and a middle-aged individual focusing on teens and young adults.

Kishori Lal, 90, a veteran Congress leader and chairman of the Children’s Book Trust (established in 1957), is still focused on publishing and creating enticing, well-illustrated, easy read storybooks for children aged 5 to 15. The books contain grandma stories and folk tales that carry subtle moral messages to teach children to be kind, humane, well behaved, alert, creative, and studious. Over time, CBT also catered to teens’ needs, issues, and topics on science, the environment, and technology. CBT boasts over 11,000 titles.

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Next to it is the Dolls Museum, the only one in the world that houses dolls from across the globe and continues to expand. It started with 500 dolls and now houses over 7,500 dolls from 85 countries, with the latest addition coming from Peru. Next to it is the Dolls Museum, the only one in the world that houses dolls from across the globe and continues to expand. It started with 500 dolls and now houses over 7,500 dolls from 85 countries, with the latest addition coming from Peru.

Lal avoids the media, stating, “I’ve been there, done that.”

However, he agrees to talk about just the CBT and the Dolls Museum upon request. His tone changes to one of nostalgia as he recalls, “CBT was an idea of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, which the famous political cartoonist Shankar Pillai was overseeing.”

Lal shares a personal memory from 1964, when he was a young, recently married man, and met Nehru just months before his death. He remembers Nehru telling his daughter, Indira Gandhi, that Shankar was too young, simple, and innocent, and could easily be duped. Nehru suggested that Indira find someone who could better look after the CBT, which led to Lal being appointed as its Trustee in 1965, after Indira became India’s Prime Minister following her father’s death.

Lal describes the distinguished trustees of that time, which included legends like G Parthasarthy, Chalapati Rao, and the Begum of Bhopal. He was brought on board because, as he explains with a chuckle, he was young, energetic, and full of ideas, a crisis manager, and a strong worker.

Lal goes on to explain Pandit Nehru’s vision for the CBT, saying that Nehru wanted books for examinations to be included, which would generate funds from the government to provide the organisation with some income. However, Lal opposed the idea, fearing it would turn the CBT into a commercial venture. Instead, he insisted on making it non commercial and put the CBT building at ITO on rent to ensure financial sustainability. This allowed the CBT to offer its services to children free of cost, a practice that continues to this day.

To this day, Lal ensures that children don’t need to pay to visit CBT or access its library, which is full of storybooks, paintings, and other creative books. The prices of the books sold at its small shop, which started at Rs 5, now range from Rs 60, in nearly 67 years, with discounts for children often.

Meanwhile, the ticket for the Dolls Museum is just Rs 10 so “we can count the number of visits.”

By 1965, Shankar’s International Dolls Museum was established. “It was Shankar’s vision. Foreign delegates and dignitaries, heads of state, would present their countries’ dolls as souvenirs to us, and when India went to their countries, there were too many to store. So, he decided that children should know about these dolls, and that’s how the Dolls Museum came into being.”

It is interesting to note that both CBT and the Dolls Museum were inaugurated in 1965 by Vice President of India Dr S Radhakrishnan, the same year Lal was made a trustee of the prestigious institution. To encourage children, CBT also holds Shankar’s International Children’s Painting Competition since 1949.

This year, the competition was scheduled to take place on November 24 in New Delhi; however, it has been put on hold due to severe pollution.

CBT’s Children’s World magazine publishes all stories and paintings by children themselves.

Not weary of his age, but concerned about children rushing to mobile phones, Lal worries, “Children should never stop reading books. Our library has 2,000-year-old books too; no one comes to read them, except researchers.”

But he never feels defeated. “So, now we are crafting a huge space at Chanakyapuri that will be a creative hub for children. We have also written to the government to give us a space for trekking and other sports-related activities to encourage physical activity and help children learn camaraderie and creativity.”

Empowering next generation

While Lal focuses on younger children to build a strong foundation, Bidisha Roy is looking at teenagers and young adults through India’s only physical and online film festival, called the Footprint Festival (FFF).

In its 5th edition this year, the FFF is on November 16-17 in New Delhi, with other cities following.

Roy explains that the festival was initially created for children in 2020, but she soon realised that as the children grew older, they felt inspired by her own experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, when her son, a teenager at the time, spent most of his time glued to his mobile device.

Roy felt that this issue could only be addressed through creative outlets, helping teens use their time more constructively. She adds that the youngest filmmaker to participate so far is just 10 years old.

While children can’t typically make films entirely on their own, Roy explains that filmmaking is a collaborative effort where older individuals assist with aspects like sound, cinematography, and assembling the film. Through Peninsula Studios, Roy and her team mentor children, guiding them to create their films. The festival receives vibrant entries that offer unique perspectives from across the globe.

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Roy, who founded Anjuman—a program focused on developing 21st-century skills in children through the pedagogy of art— addresses a concern she has observed in the films made by teens and young adults. She points pressure, and performance anxiety.

In another instance, a girl who wanted to make a film about menstruation faced resistance from almost everyone around her. The topic, still considered taboo, made it difficult for her to find people—teachers, friends, or family members—who were willing to act in the film. Despite this, she was encouraged and supported in bringing her vision to life, overcoming the societal barriers around the subject.

“We encourage them to make films about what they want to tell. We don’t focus on entertainment.” Results are showing. “One of our students from Jharkhand who attended our workshops has made four films and a web series without any resources.”

The writer is a senior journalist, poet, co-author of ‘Muslims in Media’ and art and music curator