On the eve of 75th anniversary of India’s independence and the 150th Birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo, AuroBharati, Sri Aurobindo society started a special project on Children with the title “Bal Samskriti- Towards Creativity & Integral Perfection. To begin with this, AuroBharati organized the inaugural lecture on the topic Socio-Cultural Context of Child Development & Integral Perfection by Ms. Rashmi Narzary, Author, Independent Editor, Creative writing mentor on 6^th August, 2022.

At the beginning, Dr. Kishor Kumar Tripathy, Member Secretary, AuroBharati spoke on the objective of Bal Samskriti project “to explore the creativity of children by providing quality education, awareness towards culture, facilitating vocational training, promoting moral education and developmental activities for integral development.” He conveyed the message of Sri Aurobindo in the area of child development “In education the child was regarded not as a soul meant to grow, but as brute psychological stuff to be shaped into a fixed mould by the teacher. We have travelled to another conception of the child as a soul with a being, a nature and capacities of his own who must be helped to find them, to find himself, to grow into their maturity, into a fullness of physical and vital energy and the utmost breadth, depth and height of his emotional, his intellectual and his spiritual being.”

Rashmi Narzary explained the topic from the creative writer’s perspective and emphasized on the significance and role of stories and storytelling towards the psychological and social development of a child. In her lecture she presented the importance of five senses in a growing child and how these lead to understanding of diversity and respect towards the same. Understanding the ‘CHILD’ Psychology from a fresh point of view, she highlighted that how real interaction teaches sharing, caring and social bonding to a child, with humans and animals alike. She emphasized that storytelling as a bridge between the Conscious and the Subconscious, thereby engaging the process of learning, tolerance and imbibing ethics. This talk was followed by animated slides and a short video on the impact of stories on the psychology of  a child, created and narrated by Rashmi Narzary.

The programme was organized through online mode where writers’ from different community participated and presentd their valuable ideas for the promotion of Bal Samskriti programme. Scope of Bal Samskriti project in the areas of research and publication focusing on creating quality teaching materials in different languages and connecting with institutions working in these areas for collaborative research and program activities was discussed during the programme.

About the Speaker:

Rashmi Narzary is presently the Joint Secretary of North East Writers’ Forum. She is an independent editor and has worked on projects with the UNICEF in India, the Assam government. Despite having a background in Economics and Human Resource Management, her creative pursuits within the literary realm have always been her passion. Hailing from the vibrant north-east of India, nature and natural human behavior find reflection in her writings. Her first book for children, His Share of Sky, was listed for the Crossword Book Awards 2013. Among her translations, the Sahitya Akademi Award winning Shrinkhol, by the eminent film-maker, the Late Dr Bhabendra Nath Saikia, remains her most cherished work.

She is the recipient of ‘PRAG PRERONA AWARDS, 2020’ for her contribution towards literature, from Hon’ble Governor of Assam His Excellency Prof Jagdish Mukhi and Padma Vibhushan Awardee Sharmila Tagore.  Appreciating and acknowledging her brilliant literary pursuits, she has been featured in TV Serial ‘PurvottarkeSitare’, Humans of North East India, and extensively in the print and electronic media. In recent times she had been committed to creative writing workshops as a mentor for Katha Utsav as National Grand Finale Mentor, New Delhi, The Indo-Japanese literary venture, Zubaan-Sasakawa Peace Foundation Writing Methodology Workshop for research scholars and Katha Utsav (East Zone).