This new illustrated book delves into the rich history of Pune

Pune is an ancient city where several parts of it remain steeped in history How does one teach a child about this city or any other metropolis from a country that has an insightful chronicle of several civilisations A book and a good one at that is the answer One such interesting childrenrsquos book is Flashback Pune people and places around the 1700s published by the Watering Can FoundationConceptualised by Ulka Athale and Tania Kamath the brilliant illustrations have been created by Paul Anthony George The book takes the young reader through the 1700s Pune mdash how people used to live what they wore where they lived and important parts of the city Through the book there are bar codes that when scanned open YouTube videos of the places and people of the city which are mentioned in the story We got 11yearold Sanavi Kinjawadekar based in Kalyan to review the book for usldquoI find this book very interesting and enjoyed learning about Shaniwar Wada the Peshwasrsquo grand home as well as about several peths neighbourhoods in Pune I cannot believe that in a day 1000 people used to visit the wada from the five doorsrdquo Kinjawadekar says excitedlyThere are a few activities in the book that Kinjawadekar recommends like matching the column sticking the pictures and drawing an article ldquoIt was so cool to try these activities Matching the column was interesting because it taught me about objects like the flour grinder vegetable slicer paan box and the rice serving spoon that were used in the 1700s I have never seen such old objectsrdquo says the young reader adding ldquoTherersquos an activity where I had to help the city police to find the rooms in his home It was fascinating because that old home varied from my home There were so many different rooms Plus the illustrations made it thrilling I was particularly excited to read that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was only seven years old when he moved to Pune because I am also learning about this Maratha leader at school Therersquos so much about him in my history bookrdquo she addsSanavi looks at an illustration about Punersquos famous peths Pics courtesyNeelam KinjawadekarThe 11yearold points out that the text in the book is written in English and Marathi which helped her a lot ldquoWhen I read this in English there were a few words that I didnrsquot understand but then I referred to the Marathi text and understood what they meantrdquo she says adding that due to this she didnrsquot have to take her parentsrsquo help for readingThe young reader gives full marks to the book and is hoping that in her next school vacation her parents take her to Pune so that she can visit Shaniwar WadaFlashback Pune people and places around the 1700sAGE GROUP 11 to 13 yearsPUBLISHED BY The Watering Can FoundationPRICE Rs 250RATING 44LOG ON TO thewateringcanin