KOCHI:Now, sing and learn Malayalam. Here is a book which will help your child navigate the nuances and intricacies of the Malayalam language. Brought out by the State Institute of Languages - a government institution more popular as the Bhasha Institute - the ‘Keralabhasha Paadavali’ is aimed at ensuring children learn the correct method to pronounce Malayalam words.
What makes the slim volume interesting is that it is not filled with boring sermons on grammar or pronunciation.Rather, the correct way to utter each alphabet and letter combination is taught through short, simple and thought-provoking songs. For instance, the letter ‘O:’ “Onpathu perunde oppanakkar/Oppathinoppam kalicheedunnu/Othiriyaalukal othukoodi/Oppanakandu rasicheedunnu” penned by noted children’s writer Sippy Pallipuram.
Majority of the verses have been supplied by Sippy, Vattaparambil Peethambaran and A B V Kavilppadu. “The first 1,000 copies of the book were sold within a month. Only 750 copies of the second edition of 2,000 books now remain to be sold,” institute director V Karthikeyan Nair said. The book is designed in such a manner the child is taken through the letters first and then progressively through the word, sentence and grammar.
“When we were young we had a storybook in the first standard. ‘Keralabhasha Paadavali’ is modelled on that volume,” Karthikeyan Nair said. The book also features short poems and songs for children written by some of the finest poets.
For example, ‘Pookkaalam’ by Kumaran Aasan, one of the best-known poems on the spring season.
Other poets featured in the book include Ulloor, Vallathol, Vayalar Rama Varma, O N V Kurup, D Vinayachandran, Pandalam Kerala Varma and Kunjunni.