BOOK 3#

Title- ‘Satrangi ladkiyan’

 

Publisher, Place- Pratham books, Bangalore

 Genre- Picture Book

Grade – 3rd

 Theme- Diversity/ Gender

Author –Kamla Bhasin

 

Brief biography

 

Kamla Bhasin or Kamla didi, is a renowned Feminist author and Women Rights activist. She is known for her fiery arguments on various issues related to gender and caste within our society. She has also worked with women from several marginalised and underprivileged communities. As an author she continues to raise important questions around gender norms and inequalities of caste and class.

Her other writings include -Borders & Boundaries: Women in India's Partition, Understanding Gender and What Is Patriarchy?

 

Synopsis

Do you have a friend who has hair like you? Or perhaps a sibling who looks like you? But even then, they are so different from you?

Isn’t it fun to play with them and explore new things? Wouldn’t it be so boring if we were all alike, all the time ?

 

Reading strategies

This book can be used to explore the theme of diversity within classrooms. You can use this as a Sub theme while engaging with EVS themes like 'My Body'.

Pre-reading

• Divide the students in pairs or groups of 4 (if your class size is big!)
• Ask them to observe each other and make a list of – a)similarities b)differences between them and their peers
• Once they are done, ask them to share their list with class. (You have to guide the discussion in a way that it leads to the introduction of the book.)
• After they are done sharing, you can introduce the book to them by asking “why do you think the book is called ‘Satrangi Ladkiyan’?”, “what do you think this book is going to be about?"

During reading

• You can ask the students “Do you think it would be boring if we were all alike?”
• You can bring in the observations made by students previously, for e.g. - a student shares that they have different type of hair as compared to their friends, ask them to share something about it. (I used to have a friend who had extremely curly hair and it was very difficult for her to comb it.)

 

 After reading

• You can use the following graphic organizer-

 ( Graphic organizers is a teaching and learning tool that is used to organize information and ideas in a way that they become easier to comprehend. Persuasion maps are a type of graphic organizer that helps students with persuasive writing, i.e how to write strong arguments.)

KNOW YOURSELF!

 

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?	DESCRIBE YOURSELF!
THINGS YOU LIKE THE MOST!	DRAW YOURSELF

 

• You can link this with a grammar lesson on Adjectives as well.

 

Reflection

‘Satrangi ladkiyan’ celebrates the theme of Diversity and Gender. Through its quirky illustrations and narrative, it brings our attention to the idea of uniqueness within every individual. It talks about accepting and exploring our individual differences, which has become increasingly important within the present political climate of our society. As we are moving towards creating a homogenized culture that focuses on the imposition of one system of beliefs over the entire population, by disregarding the culture of those at the margins.

Women especially , have been victims of a toxic standardized beauty culture that creates insecurities about how we view our self and our physical bodies , since forever. This text creates an opportunity for us to bring in these questions of who is setting these standards? why these standards in the first place ? within our classroom walls. And to let our students explore it for their own selves .

Sources-

https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/104791-rainbow-girls