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FABLES AND FAIRY TALES AND OUR CHILDREN OF MODERN TIME
“If you want your child to be intelligent read them fairy tales. If
you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy
tales”—Albert Einstein.
The fairy tales all began in the form of storytelling in Europe and other parts of the world long
before the print media emerged. The reading habit of fables and fairy tales has been reduced
among the new generation. They are more inclined to the other entertainments which are live and
can reciprocate. There was pertinent queries and inquisitiveness. It happened suddenly in my
mind that the causal relationship between the reading habit and an old book of the Brothers
Grimm infused in me to survey the reasons. As of my habit I went to the library and suddenly
came across the Brothers Grimm almost new in condition. This book once part of my life in my
yester years. So as just inquisitiveness I was visiting the pages once more. I spent with the book
and borrowed it from the library. I noticed that the book was borrowed very few times. But
why? And I do not know, if it is a coincidence, I found the above quote of Albert Einstein on the
same day in one of my diaries. I realized that environment suggests me to pave the untraded path
of fables and fairy tales once more. I thought to find out the reasons why the modern society has
no or little place for fairy tales or fables. I have been visiting the BOOK FAIRS for long,
throughout Bengal and other states like the Jaipur Literary Meet,I have seen children more
inclined towards CDs of Games or colourful comics like Chota Bheem. I found the modern
writers like Chetan Bhagat, Jhumpa Lahiri, even Ruskin Bond are carried away from JUVENILE
LITERATURE deliberately. Why, are their minds preoccupied with terse political drama? Except
J.K.Rowling whose mesmerizing sonority with impeccable presentation of actions of Harry
Potter enchanted the children of the United States who are much more near to the proximity of
mechanized life, if they can be attracted towards such literature then why not our children? Is it
an individual feast of a writer? Though questions may arise whether we can call Harry Potter a
fairytales or fables or not. But the truth cannot be hidden. Our children do not read fairy tales any
more.
Story played an important role in shaping the character of the children. The strength of
imagination helps formulate the foundation of humanity. At times when they had less access to
their life’s entertainment, story by means of verbal presentation was sole attraction for the night
to come. Children waited for the night to come and after the supper their old family members
would tell them stories in which they found themselves in the form of the protagonists or other
characters they liked. The story never destroyed their morale as they were neither cruel nor
revengeful. Later on, the books of fairy tales and fables became more attractive to them as they
could see the characters in shape in black and white. On the same go storytelling gradually
started to be a declining act. The Elves, the Frog Kings, the Enchanters or Rapunzel with long
hair made their imagination confined.
Story telling was a sort of event. In olden days it took a position in the society where story teller
arrived at the place to entertain the spinners in north Ireland. The marked difference was that the
story teller used to come to the household workers but did not go to the factories. It gives us the
hints of justification of storytelling in modern places. So story telling was confined at night and
at cottage where the oil lamp and the cessation of the illumination prolonged the story that itself
created an environment and the shadows and dim light put together into the plot a different
dimension. The oil lamps were replaced by modern fuel like kerosene and paraffin. The bright
light interrupted the rhythm was lost. The story, the story teller and the listeners found story
telling out of place. Story telling became a fossil.
Children started going to school and started learning how to read. Therefore storytellers were
losing their relevance. The middleman-ship between the story and the listeners evaporated.
Moreover the word, the news, the democratic and parliamentarian activities were thoughts of the
day. It became the common subject interest. Moreover the newspapers played an important role
to substitute storyteller as news reader replaced the storyteller. Modern language did not fit into
the flow and patter of storytelling. The rhythm and tradition of the story was marred by the
obscurity of modernity of language. Take for example of the Brothers Grimm who noted stories
told in High German though gaining cleaneness to the reader but simultaneously lost its
flavoured significance. Stories put into the particular dialect where the stories originate, fit best.
The presentation of the old stories from Aesop’s Fable or other fables and fairy tales failed to
attract to the kids due to language used. Storytelling is an art and art is best fit in contemporary
format. Any fusion rouses doubts. Storytelling had its own charm. The cinema became a form of
storytelling. The language, the sentences the diction all gave the golden touch. Leisure was the
reason of storytelling. The traditional houses also played plots for story tellers for next
generation. The tradition of storytelling was on the wane as the storytellers were not connected
with the past and history, neither the passion handed over down to the modern generation. They
were disconnected. The originality lost its base when print media started selling out the old
fables land fairytales with unauthentic, newly adjusted stories developed by some unknown
urchins in order to avoid copyright acts. When Dinosaurs are coming with Thakurmar Jhuli(Bag
of Grandmother-a fairy tale collection in Bengali) definitely it would not attract the children
because they are accustomed with these animals therefore raises brow. Lack of depth, surface
level passion could not attract the listeners. Traditional short stories could evoke unbound desires
of the folk. The protagonist, the creatures were all capable of projecting a sense of truth. The
simplicity of the approach was the winning streak. Let u s recall the stories of Rapunzel where
how a silly greed of a wife made a point of pathos of a mother. And how OZ the simple man who
was thought to be magician defeated the sorcerers and freed the men and women with his wit.
We also experience how a haughty daughter of a king becomes a perfect human being
transformed through the misery and adversity. The rhythm is lost. We read books of stories only
to relaxation or entertainment remain connected with the daily chores. But the old stories in from
of fairy tales and fables left the listeners in the seclusion of life. The sublimity relied on the
passions of the protagonist when we see the daughter of a king hoarded geese or a prince loves
water of life.
People had belief on the power of the human characters and the villain in form of sorcerer or
enchantress never failed to lure the imagination of their unpredictable feast over their heroes and
heroines. The faith in magic, spells, charms, witchcraft, transformation, incantations was the
strong foundation of storytelling and fairy tales. Literary potpourri sans revenge and cruelty was
the reason for their success.
The fairy tells have lost their significance but the children indulged in excavating his own past,
reading a fairy tale is much more rewarding than to browsing a tab or computer or play a game
that do not nourish their inner soul.
(Prof.Kamal Bhattacharyya)
ASST.PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
JIET-JODHPUR, RAJASTHAN
(Readers are requested to bring forward mistakes, if any, so as to make this article error free)