Last week, E and the children read about the marriage of Rama and Sita. It all started with an impossible challenge: whoever could lift Shiva's golden bow would win the right to marry Sita. It took hundreds of men just to drag the bow to the competition.
Over and over again, the strongest and bravest challengers failed. Of course, not only did Rama succeed in lifting the bow - he broke it!
The children recognized this narrative and remembered where they'd heard it before: Odysseus as an old man, Gilgamesh, Atalanta, the sword on the stone in King Arthur's story.
They also talked about the characteristics of the hero who defies the norm. Are they really the strongest or fastest? Or perhaps they have something special in them that allows them to complete the task.
Next in the story, Rama's father decrees Rama king, only to have one of his jealous wives hold him to an early promise. Rama and Sita are banished from Ayodiah for 14 years. And so the epic journey begins.
In our first session together, the children spent time going over images from India - crafts, jewelry, markets, fabrics, art, people, recipes, animals, etc. Each child had their own favorites with one in common: scenes from the festival of Holi, where people throw colored powder on each other. They were all completely enthralled by images of people covered in vivid blues, greens, pinks, oranges and reds. How exciting to imagine a place that celebrates throwing colored powder!
After the story telling, we went outside to make our own Holi powder.
The children mixed flour and water and drops of food coloring. After mixing and kneading, this beautifully colored dough is flattened into pancakes to dry. Then it is ground up ready to throw or sprinkle into designs on a doorstep. Can't wait to see what happens next...I think someone suggested goggles.
