Children browse through CDs at the fair on Sunday. Picture by UB Photos

Jan. 8: Dozens of Jack, Jill and Little Miss Muffets were buzzing at the stalls of Child World Children’s Festival and Book Fair this evening, but not a single Amare Moina was among them.

The stalls which sell CDs of nursery rhymes and lullabies, laid out their audio-video CDs for the children and many children were seen urging their parents to buy one or two for them.

Unfortunately, among those CDs not a single was in Assamese to tell the children the beautiful lullabies or rhymes available in Assamese language.

Although audio-video tools are considered to be more effective to make a subject matter interesting and easy to children, the lullabies and the rhymes of Assamese language are yet to reach the children with the help of multimedia.

Assamese language is rich in touching lullabies and rhymes like Amare moina xubo ei, Holou uthil tokou gosot, Jonbai ei eti tora dia and Phul phul nuphulo kio which are favourites with the Assamese owing to their strong appeal. Still, producers here dare not invest in CDs on them.

Ranjib Das, producer of Amare moina xubo ei, the only audio-video album so far on Assamese lullaby and rhymes, said he was still struggling to recover the capital he invested in making the CD. “When people see the CD they do appreciate. Some of them buy it, but we are still struggling to recover the capital. As soon as we recover the capital we will work on another CD,” Das said.

“In every book fair we find children making queues to buy CDs on English and Hindi nursery rhymes. There are so many CDs in English and Hindi,” Das said.

English and Hindi CDs on nursery rhymes are being sold in the ongoing Child World Children’s Festival and Book Fair. “Although the sales are not as high as it happened in the North East Book Fair, it is okay,” a seller said.

Modern English School here has the experience of using audio-visual tools in classrooms.

The principal of the school, Pankaj Das, said using multimedia has an added advantage over the traditional methods of teaching.

“Learning process varies from student to student. If some students learn by listening to others, some others learn from what they see, while some students use their imagination. Multimedia caters to the needs of all these students. Besides, present generations have become familiar with multimedia,” Das said.

According to child litterateur Bandita Phukan, if CDs on Assamese nursery rhymes are made, people will buy them.

“Parents are interested in giving CDs to their children. Everybody loves his or her mother-tongue,” Phukan said.

She added that such CDs would help children develop interest in their mother-tongue.