Karadi Tales
Encyclopedia
This article is about a book series and a company of the same name

Karadi Tales are a series of popular audio books for children in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The company produces original Indian multimedia content with focus on audio & video CDs/VCDs & DVDs in retail, internet and broadcast markets.

Concept

Karadi (which is the word in Kannada
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...

, Malayalam, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

, etc. meaning bear) is a bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...

 who is also a story teller bear who tells stories that he has experienced in his lifetime. Initially the role or the voice of Karadi was acclaimed India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...

.

According to Karadi Tales, Karadi is a bachelor bear of indeterminate age. Lives in the forests of India and loves to tell stories. Has a huge repertoire of tales, fables and myths from India and from all over the world. Not a trained musician, but can sing very well. A pure vegetarian, he loves honey. Good friends of Meera the monkey and Dhondu the donkey. Much loved by all forest animals and by children everywhere.

Stories

The popular stories are from Indian Classics such as the Panchatantra
Panchatantra
The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian inter-related collection of animal fables in verse and prose, in a frame story format. The original Sanskrit work, which some scholars believe was composed in the 3rd century BCE, is attributed to Vishnu Sharma...

 and the Jataka
Jataka
The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Buddha....

 and also from the grand epics of India, the Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

 and the Mahabharat. Although the stories have strong Indian roots, they speak of morals and ideals that are universal.

Karadi Tales Mythology

Karadi brings to life a world of gods and demons, kings and queens, a universe of times past. Stories from Indian mythology are woven together and sung by Award winner and celebrated film and theatre personality Padmabhushan Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...

, who plays the role of Karadi, the bear and sootradhar. The script, lyrics and direction is by Shobha Viswanath. Padmashri Thota Tharani adapts his unique style to communicate art to children, which exposes children to illustrations that are not childish, yet are appealing to the child. Like the art, the music steers away from the childish nursery rhyme format and incorporates Indian aesthetics. The acclaimed group, '3 Brothers & A Violin' have created the songs and background scores that enhance the storytelling experience.

Under the Banyan

The Under the Banyan series features folktales from different parts of India. With illustrations and music representative of the region, these stories form a complete cultural experience of different parts of India. The initial four folktales in this series from Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

 and Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

 were narrated by Usha Uthup. The mantle of sootradhar and storyteller has now been taken over by Nandita Das
Nandita Das
Nandita Das is an award-winning Indian film actress and director. As an actress, she is known for her performances in Fire , Earth , Bawandar , Kannathil Muthamittal and Aamaar Bhuvan . As a director, she is known for her directorial debut Firaaq , which has won a number of national and...

.

Chitra Picture Books

Chitra publishes original picture books from India and English-Hindi bilingual editions of popular foreign titles including The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a children's picture book designed, illustrated and written by Eric Carle, first published by the World Publishing Company in 1969, later published by Penguin Putnam. The book follows a caterpillar as it eats its way through a wide variety of foodstuffs before...

, Mixed Up Chameleon, The Grouchy Ladybug
The Grouchy Ladybug
The Grouchy Ladybug, also known as The Bad-Tempered Ladybird is a 1977 children's book written by Eric Carle, best known as the author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar....

 and The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Eric Carle
Eric Carle is a children's book author and illustrator who is most famous for his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has been translated into over 50 languages...

.

Dreaming Fingers

Handcrafted tactile picture books that combine bright colours with an array of tactile sensations. These books are accompanied by Braille letters for the visually impaired and children with special needs. This imprint is produced in association with Lemniscaat (Rotterdam, Netherlands).

Television

In October 2009, Karadi Tales premiered on Television with their first animated series on the Disney Channel (India). This is a series of 26 episodes (two seasons) directed by Soumitra Ranade. Animated characters and backgrounds are uniquely stylised along the lines of the Indian mask-making tradition, which gives the series a distinct look and feel that is sophisticated and very Indian.

Celebrities association

Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan is an Indian actress, who appears in Hindi films. After graduating with a degree in sociology, she started her career starring in music videos, television shows and commercials, before appearing in feature films....

 launched a Karadi Tales book in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 titled Little Vinayak, the first in the Will You Read With Me series of audio books Even Oscar winning lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...

 Gulzar was present at the occasion.

Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid
Rahul Sharad Dravid , is a cricketer in the Indian national team, of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in September 2007. Dravid was honoured as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers...

, Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Dutt is an Indian Hindi film actor and politician. Dutt, son of Hindi film actors Sunil and Nargis Dutt, made his acting debut in 1981.-Personal life:...

, Jaaved Jaaferi and Soha Ali Khan
Soha Ali Khan
- Early life :Khan was born into the erstwhile princely family of Pataudi. She has Muslim Pashtun ancestry through Nawabs of Pataudi lineage from her father's side and Bengali Hindu ancestry from her mother's side...

 have also narrated stories for the Will You Read With Me series of audio books.

About the company

Karadi Tales Company Pvt., Ltd. publishes and sells child audio books in India and abroad. The company offers folktales, stories, rhymes, and folklore and mythology books. It also provides forays in CD ROMs and DVDs, as well as in audiocassettes. In addition, the company sells its products online. It serves children, young adults, adults, and families. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is based in Chennai, India. As of April 23, 2008, Karadi Tales Company Pvt. Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of ACK Media Pvt, Ltd.

Video stories

The following are a few video stories from youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

.
  • The Foolish Lion.
  • The Blue Jackal.
  • The Foolist Crow.

Official address

The company is incorporated as a Private company and is headquarters at Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.The address is as follows.
3A Dev Regency,
11, First Main Road,
Gandhinagar, Adyar,
Chennai - 600 020
Krishna's Conquests

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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