"Ajji Mane" (Grandmother’s house) introduces the past to young children:A unique summer camp at Mani

By Mounesh Viswakarma
Bellevision Media Network

Bantwal: They slipped on a leaf, danced on a coconut shell, and even made a pot out of clay.. Yes, this is the situation seen in Mani Peraje’s "Ajjimane".. Are you wondering what Ajjimane is? The children’s camp named Ajjimane, which has been going on at Mani Peraje’s Bala Vikas English Medium School for the past week, gave the participating children a special experience.

 

The camp, titled "Once upon a time, in a town without mobile phones", was attended by 211 students from more than 40 educational institutions in Maharashtra, including Bangalore, Mangalore, Puttur B.C. Road, Kalladka, Uppinangady, Vittal and other districts.

 

On the first day, the waiter Prapulla Rai gave a special entry to the grandmother’s house and took the children to their grandmother’s time. He explained to the children the situation in the house in the past, the games and songs of that time, and attracted the children to a new world. The children enthusiastically participated in various activities of making toys using natural materials found around our house and made various toys including a ring, a cart, a fan, a watch, a giraffe, a rocket, a bow and arrow, glasses, and a mat and celebrated. On the third day, all the children who visited the secret house of D. Ramdas Rai in Atrabailu were surprised to see the design there. Apart from playing Kolchakra on a tire, the children who played various games in the garden and fields themselves, played cricket with a bat made of a coconut feather stem (Kothalige). The children shared their joy by blowing bubbles in soapy water, playing various rural games including Goli, Lagori, Kallata, and blowing pipi out of leaves. They also enjoyed feeding the cattle.

With the aim of introducing the children to the skills of many rural crafts, the skills of a senior craftsman who sautés coconut shells, a potter who makes pots, a basket weaver and many others were introduced to the children. In the past, the children were also told about the preparations for the rainy season, starting with harvesting jackfruit, a demonstration of making palm leaves was made by the children themselves, how to roast cashew nuts in a fire and eat them, the art of building a hut in jackfruit leaves and many other rural ideas were participated by all the children. This first phase of the grandmother’s house camp was organized for children of various schools, except for the Bal Vikas Vidyalaya, and free transportation and breakfast were also provided. In order to introduce the desi method, rice balls, kadle avalakki, sago, huriunde, uppittu, hibiscus drink, jambu purple fruit etc. The children were also introduced to old fortnightly and weekly newspapers like Balamangala, Tunthuru, Chandamama, Mayura, and Mangala.

 

Teachers became resource persons...

 

Under the guidance of school director Prahlad J. Shetty, under the leadership of secretary Mahesh Shetty J., and conceived by school headmistress Supriya D., the Ajjimane camp was specially organized by the teachers of the Bal Vikas Vidya Sanstha as resource persons. On Sunday, various entertainment games and competitions were organized for the parents of all the children, along with an educational information workshop.

 

Speaking about the camp, Mahesh J. Shetty, Secretary of Mani Bala Vikas Trust, said that in the first phase, this Ajjimane camp was organized for children from other schools, and we will organize it for children from our school in the month of May.

 

School principal Supriya D. said that traditional basic education is being provided in our Bala Vikas Vidya Sanstha on the lines of Ajjimane.