Wave a hi: Storytelling session to spread awareness on marine life

CHNNAI: Lil Trails will be organising ‘Alai: Under the waves’, an online storytelling session with storyteller Janaki Sabesh on November 27. The stories will be chosen from Karadi Tales

Lil Trails is a platform for children and parents founded by Rajavel Sundarajan and Avanti Natarajan in 2020. The platform aims to provide a holistic learning experience for both children and parents in various areas like- storytelling, craft, literature, health, and wellness through guided discussions by domain experts.

Speaking to DT Next Rajavel says, “Owing to the pandemic, schools were closed and kids were at home doing nothing. That’s how Lil Trails began and we decided to collaborate with Janaki Sabesh, storyteller, actor and chief ideator at Lil Trails. We started conducting online storytelling sessions every day at 5 pm on our Instagram live followed by an art session by Avanti.

“The sessions were curated in such a way that they would be both engaging, informative, and fun for the children. They really enjoyed it and the response was huge.”

Janaki Sabesh, Avanti Natarajan, Rajavel Sundarajan

He says both parents and children loved these sessions and they eventually brought in another project called ‘Lil Community’. As a part of the Lil Community discussions, experts from different fields would answer questions from parents and children. In the month of September, Lil Trails opened its own event space in Adyar and has been actively conducting different kinds of storytelling and art sessions, discussions, and lots more.

Talking about Alai: Under the waves, he says, “The reason we chose the underwater theme is that children are very inquisitive by nature. They are fascinated by things that are not very obviously presented. We also wanted to create awareness on taking care of the ocean and the importance of marine life and how it helps our ecosystem.”

He says stories from Karadi Tales which have underwater themes and characters will be chosen for the session. On the day of the storytelling session, Lil Trails will also launch their children’s special calendar. “There are not many calendars made for children. So we have come up with a special underwater-themed calendar for kids, illustrated by Avanti, that is something that will cater to their needs, user-friendly, and also has activities- puzzles, note box and fun trivia.”

Talking about the stories Janaki Sabesh says, “For the session I chose, Why the Sea is Salty and Fish Friends Three; the reason I chose these stories is because of the theme. The stories involve ocean creatures and also convey life lessons in an informative fashion.

“I’m looking forward to connecting with kids all over the world through this online session and meeting up with kids who missed out on our physical sessions.”

The online storytelling session will be conducted via Zoom on November 27 from 10.30 am to 11.30 am. The registration fee is Rs 350. For registration visit www.littrails.com