GURUGRAM: Google might have the answers to all your queries but nothing beats a grandma’s wisdom. On a pleasant Monday morning amid the dusty environs of Manesar, students of a government girls’ primary school were witness to a mesmerising storytelling session on ‘Mottainai Grandma’.
‘Mottainai’ is a
Japanese term that disapproves of habit of wastefulness, particularly in the context of the environment. The title character, a grandmother, teaches the importance of not wasting even a single grain of rice, besides conserving water, reusing waste paper, fully utilising resources and saving electricity.
These sessions are an initiative of Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) and Japan India Cooperation Agency (JICA), and have been inspired by ‘Mottainai Grandma’, a picture book by Japanese author Mariko Shinju. The book has been translated into Hindi and English, in collaboration with the National Book Trust (NBT), keeping Indian demographics in mind.
“The literal meaning of the word ‘Mottainai’ is, ‘Do not waste’, which is part of everyone’s life in Japan,” revealed Kubo Eiji, director, private sector partnership division and finance department, JICA.
“Among many things, Japan promotes the culture of cleanliness and respect for natural resources, which aligns with the concept of ‘Mottainai’. ‘Reduce’, ‘reuse’, ‘recycle’ and ‘respect’ are perhaps the most important values that Japan continues to contribute to the rest of the world,” Eiji added.
Carrying a mobile library of 300 books, the storytelling
caravan will tour 30 schools in Delhi-NCR with the aim of promoting the ‘Clean India’ mission by creating environmental awareness among schoolkids.
“The idea is to bring change at the grassroots level – (it’s) an effective way of bringing behavioural changes at the nascent stage by inculcating healthy habits at this age,” believes Ajay Tomer, executive director, corporate planning, MSIL.
And this interactive method of telling stories, he adds, reinforces the age-old practice of storytelling in India. “With
Mottainai Grandma, these students will retain the lessons for life.”
The modulated voiceover of the storyteller brings out innocent queries among the children, who are all ears, and alive to ecological issues. As proved by Aradhana and Anjali, two giggly class-V students who plan among themselves to turn plastic bottles into ‘gamla’ (pots for plants).
‘Mottainai’ is a Japanese term that disapproves of habit of wastefulness, particularly in the context of the environment.
