In for the long haul Nandini was born in 1989 in a village in Coorg. For her graduation, she came to Bangalore where she now lives with…… Read more “How I Became a Long-Distance Runner: Conversations with Nandini – Part One”
Category: Family life
The Road to Nirvana is Paved with Snakes (and Ladders)
Moksha Patam that turned into Snakes and Ladders Background Recently we proposed to use the Snakes and Ladders’ game-board for an International workshop about children’s development planned…… Read more “The Road to Nirvana is Paved with Snakes (and Ladders)”
Introducing Nautanki Mom: Storytelling in Singapore
One of our objectives on Masala Chai is to support fresh, spontaneous, informal and independent projects the field of family life and children’s care as well as…… Read more “Introducing Nautanki Mom: Storytelling in Singapore”
Talking about care
Mom and daughter bonding over Yoga Our collaborations move to the Southern part of India, where, at the suggestion of our collaborator Vishwas Raj, we initiated conversations…… Read more “Talking about care”
Scenes from a Himalayan Festival: Part Three
Today’s photo essay brings a small story from the annual festival held at the Nyoma monastery, with a brief introduction and references to the spiritual and religious activity of the Changpas, a deeply religious Buddhist community. We focus on the lighthearted role children play in the sombre ceremonies of the festival.
Re-posting three essays on learning
Picture credits: Adventure Sindbad This week our team is a bit occupied with other academic and personal tasks, so we thought of revisiting three posts from the…… Read more “Re-posting three essays on learning”
Mothers and Sons: Magical moments during the lockdown
This week we present two mothers, Vini and Dimple who share an interesting history. They are both alumnae of The Department of Human Development and Childhood Studies…… Read more “Mothers and Sons: Magical moments during the lockdown”
The Himalayan Desert: Where solitude and isolation are a way of life
Part One: The Place Picture credits Mayank Soni In these strange times, remote areas of the country seem to have receded even further into the wilderness, and…… Read more “The Himalayan Desert: Where solitude and isolation are a way of life”
Has the Pandemic Shaken Up the Indian Middle-Class Household?
As I reflect on pending tasks like attending to unwashed dishes, a pile of sweaty clothes, or proposed projects, finding the mindspace for writing posts for Masala…… Read more “Has the Pandemic Shaken Up the Indian Middle-Class Household?”
A Golden Carpet and other (Covid) Conversations
“What the lockdown teaches us is that we have much less control over the external world than we realise, but much more control over our internal world…… Read more “A Golden Carpet and other (Covid) Conversations”
Granny-love in the mountains
Dear readers, we had planned on posting the second review of the Netflix documentary Babies titled “Love in the time of Infancy”, but plans changed. We became…… Read more “Granny-love in the mountains”
Math, Morality and Gambling: Card-games and Kids in the Himalayas
When and how should young children be permitted to handle cash? Is it even necessary anymore? This question is not easy to answer, and we had a hard time constructing today’s essay around this question. As concerned adults, we often struggle with the sequence and pace of bringing the outside world into children’s lives, sometimes delaying or even denying the entry of unfavourable events or difficult themes. This also raises concerns about overprotection and isolation, the consequences of which can be equally frightening. One important decision relates to handling cash, and children can learn a lot from the ways in which money is used around them. As our economies move further away from direct cash exchanges, conversations about money and related process like profit, loss, value and probability are also affected. In this post, we invite you to a discussion around an observation Vishwas Raj made during our Himalayan Chai project, and welcome your comments regarding card-games and young children.
MASALA CHAI 