In April our family with couple of my friends and their families went to Delhi, Agra and Manali. Amongst the many hundred pictures we had taken of ourselves, the scenic view of the Himalayan mountain ranges and the many monuments of Delhi, this one stood out.Inside one of the many small streets of Hill town Manali, we stopped one of the days for a cup of Chai - Men waiting for the wives who were busy shopping. We pulled over for a Tea in a small roadside Chai shop, taking care of the kids in parallel. It was a neighbourhood with small streets that had humble dwellings - native, small and not lavish. Quiet, very little traffic, no vehicles, no crowd, very unlike the many shopping streets of Main road Manali. I finished the tea and was ready to put the cup in the corner behind the Chai shop. I noticed this creative home furniture setup, the one in the picture above. Leaning on a column were small pieces of wood, buttons, bottle caps and broken tile used to setup a nice living room table and chair as well as a cozy kitchen.
I called Kaavya and Saatvik immediately to show them this. Built by neighbourhood kids, it reflected many things - simplicity, creativity and fun without mattel and fisherprice but true kids Imaginarium.
There has been many a times I wonder what to buy for the kids when I get to a Toy Store. Books and Barbies, Cars and Gadget, they seem to have em all.
Grandparents sometimes find it challenging to get gifts for Kaav and Saat. In the end they bring simple yet compelling gifts that the kids love and dont often find in the usual stores - Peacock feather, Book of flags, Indian Mythology Story book with coloring activity, dried leaves and flower in the middle of the books being few one wont easily (or never) find in stores...
I showed Kaavya the little furniture setup done by the neighbourhood kids who probably couldnt afford the big toy stores and encouraged her to build and make her own creative games and toys. Kaavya loves to build things and I hope this would have inspired her further. Of course I had to makeup a little story to help her visualize how the kids made it all themselves and had fun playing with them.
Some interesting pictures from this trip...
