Although Chinnara Habba, or children’s fest, is organised for the amusement of children, it is their parents who seemed more amused upon seeing their children having fun without videogames and TV.
The four-day children’s festival, arguably the biggest event for children in the city, started on Thursday. It is being held at White Petals, Tripuravasini, Palace Grounds.
Sini Alex, a mother of three, was glad to see her children having a ball at the habba. She said nowadays, for children, fun is synonymous with sitting in front of the TV or computer. She said it is a welcome change to see children enjoying themselves in such a manner. “My younger son pestered me into coming here and I decided to bring my two other children too,” she said, visibly pleased. Vinutha Vishwanath, mother of an 11-year-old boy, was another happy parent at the habba.
“The habba is perfect for him. Most of the time he is out, playing with his friends and I hardly get to see him. But today he is with me and I can see that he is having fun,” she said.
For Prithvi Reddy, watching his two-year-old daughter figuring out how to pedal the boat, was a moment of pride. “I wasn’t going to let her on the boat because I assumed she might not know what to do. But she figured it out on her own. I think parents underestimate their children a little. This will probably
give them a chance to see just how smart their kid is,” he said.
At the habba, there are many games as well as fun-filled workshops. There are workshops on origami, calligraphy, quilling, paper mashing, one-stroke painting, making a paper wind chime and thumb puppets, among other things. Each workshop costs `50. Also, there are stalls with books on how to make learning fun.
“Instead of buying expensive things at the stall, children can actually learn something and take whatever they made back home,” said Tejaswini Lakshmikanth of Gallery Rasa, the organisers.
To give some incentive to women to bring their children to the habba, there are a few stalls on kitchenware and accessories too.
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