Tie! Untie! Squeak! Tauji Ki Chuhiya Squeaks At Kahani Tree
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It was a special Saturday for me at Kahani Tree on the 8th of June when I read from my book Tauji Ki Chuhiya for the very first time!
I remember this time I decided I will prepare a little bit and I won’t be nervous and anxious and all jittery like I always get before
an author visit. I have been dealing with a little anxiety of my own but it has definitely gotten better with reading, meditating and
affirmations. A few other things help too like arriving early so I did and fortunately my husband brought all the handkerchiefs I needed
to make those squeaky little chuhiyas that would move about up and down Tauji’s arm. Aakash at Kahani Tree and I started watching videos
on youtube on how to make the chuhiya come alive. And we made a few and kept them ready!
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Kids started trickling in one by one, mostly accompanied by their parents, jumpy 4 year olds, squeaky five year olds and the chuhiya in
the book was already feeling in good company. We decided to start around 11 and before you knew it was nearly a full house with mummies
and babies trying to make their own little rat out of the handkerchief. In hindsight boy I am glad we got them – as the amount of fun
kids had playing and imagining the make believe rat was worth seeing (video). I read a little bit of the book this time parts that I thought
they would enjoy instead of reading every word. Since the age group was younger I had to take into consideration their attention span,
also ensure they understood every word. I realized the word “Tauji” was a relatively new word for most of them as it is “uncle” used
mostly in then north. But everyone loved saying “chuhiya” out aloud. By the way did you see little Yug Bhatia’s review on the book?
One of my favourite things about the event was my little niece nearly one who surprised us all with her squeaks and smiles at the event.
Children were as keen to discover her, her likes and dislikes as they were the book! Look! One of the kids actually came and thanked me
saying ” Thank you for introducing me to the baby ”
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And there were other highlights like the child who went ahead to build a castle for the nana and nani of the chuhiya with is vivid imagination
and the other child who wanted to keep hiding the chuhiya in his shoulder, inside his tummy and everywhere and he kept us guessing! It was
a warm Saturday noon where both children and adults discovered stories, books and spent time in one of the most precious reading places we have in the city.
Some very passionate parents brought in their kids from far like Birsen Redzheb and Taniya Thomas Fernandes who were curious, eager and enriched the workshop with their ideas and suggestions. Raakhee Magan, a mother committed to inculcating the love for language in her children also travelled from the suburbs with Sana and Rajveer her beautiful children and also my students. So basically, loads of friends that day for me, some new, some familiar! 
