Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?

Yes of course, I still remember my childhood favourite book. When I was five years old, my father bought me a set of Panchatantra books on my birthday. From then onwards I started reading books little by little.

Father used to say that for building a better society, children should be given all kinds of knowledge so that they can develop in all aspects. According to the scriptures, for the first 7 years of a child, he should be given information from all sides in a natural manner. Efforts should be made to increase curiosity and the urge to learn in him. Children’s mental development increases by reading stories and comics, as well as talking about these with parents and teachers without hesitation. Children should be encouraged to read and listen to such stories that can inculcate good values in them. Also, by reading informative stories, the burdensome routine of school and homework of children does not seem burdensome and these stories, along with entertainment, also inspire children to think something new and creative and sometimes to write something new. Children’s perspective on various subjects also changes and their grip on language also becomes strong, which helps them in their studies.

Panchtantra stories teach children a very good lesson by presenting all the subjects in a very interesting way. Panchtantra stories are very lively. By reading each story, one can gain knowledge about how to be successful in every field of life. These stories, which introduce the principles of psychology, practicality and morality, present all the subjects in a very interesting way to children in simple language and at the same time every story tries to teach a lesson. In these stories, animals and birds have been described more in the form of letters and the author Pandit Vishnu Sharma has expressed his thoughts through them. It is easy to give children knowledge of right and wrong etc. by making animals, birds / people as the basis. In most of the stories of Panchtantra, various practical, social, cultural things have been mentioned through stories of animals / wild animals, through which children learn good values. From the stories of different parts of Panchtantra, children learn how to behave with friends, what is the place of family in life, what is the importance of hard work and honesty and how to solve the problem with one’s intelligence in times of crisis. This leads to the formation of a good society.  These stories are available in the form of pictures, which makes them very easy and interesting for children to understand. Being translated into more than 50 languages, these stories of Panchtantra have a wide reach and prove to be very useful in explaining moral matters to children in their language very easily.

I also gave these books to my children to read. Although now is the era of TV and mobile, still my children read Panchatantra with great interest.