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Reshma
founded Khel Mel -
a playful gathering - in 2004. Khel Mel is a
performance group. A Khel Mel performance is puppet
theater, storytelling, music, song and dance with maybe
even yoga and crafts thrown in, immersing children in a
powerful multi sensory experience. For the typical
young audience member, this is the first encounter with
Indian culture.
Khel Mel started
when four mothers came together at a play date. Reshma
describes how, at that time, she made up words to the
song Old McDonald and her friends chimed in a chorus (Listen
to the tune) to the huge entertainment of
their own kids. Today Khel Mel is well known and sought
after by Boston area museums, libraries and schools
whenever there are multicultural programs for children.
Other members of Khel Mel are Anuradha Saxena and Neela
Srinath.
The photographs
here are from the
Peabody
Essex Museum, where Khel Mel was recently invited to
perform.
Reshma tells us
that children inspire her. She wants to instill
pride in children in their cultural identity and
showcase it to the rest of the world. Through their
adaptations of traditional Indian stories and fables,
Reshma, Anuradha and Neela emphasize the universal
messages of family values, responsible reuse and
recycling and religious tolerance. They have mastered
the use of the Indian and American idiom so that their
message easily crosses the cultural divide. Reshma says
that one of the most rewarding things for her is to see
children’s faces light up when they see and hear
familiar stories in the larger setting with their peers.
As Reshma and the
other members of Khel Mel made the first step from
performing for their own children to making public
performance, they next plan to reach a wider audience
through audio visual materials – movies, DVDs and TV
programs.
http://www.khelmel.com/
For more information or
comments email us
here
MVPs - Most
Valuable Players
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A Khel Mel Performance:
Activities and a Puppet show
Reshma at the Peabody Essex Museum, where
Khel Mel was invited to perform.
Click below to watch video clips
of the Puppet show
Activites
Making garlands with a young participant.
 
Parcheesi and Rangoli
The puppet show
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