Galli Galli Sim Sim: A Lion and a Little Girl Speak to India’s Children

It’s early morning on the set of Galli Galli Sim Sim, Sesame Workshop’s locally produced version of Sesame Street. The production team stands together quietly as one crew member breaks a coconut. The group shares pieces of the fruit, and as they do so, they pray that their day’s work will be productive and fruitful.

This quintessential Indian ceremony of performing puja is just one of the many ways in which Indian culture influences the localized production. Galli Galli Sim Sim’s producers took great care to weave the diversity of Indian culture into a show that represents people from all different religions and socioeconomic levels.

Identifying Indian children’s educational needs

One of Galli Galli Sim Sim’s carefully researched characters is Boombah, a gregarious, cuddly lion who loves eating vegetables and dancing to Bhangra music.

Boombah (Galli Galli Sim Sim)

Boombah is one of four Muppet characters developed for Galli Galli Sim Sim during a curriculum seminar in 2004, when the production team gathered a diverse group together to discuss the program’s educational goals. The participants included educators, media specialists, educational consultants, heads of NGOs, partners from Turner Broadcasting, and the Sesame Workshop team; there was even a children’s toymaker and a city planner in attendance.

Sesame Workshop international producer Nadine Zylstra was present during the seminar.  She describes the experience as an open dialogue that helped develop the show’s direction.

“The experience contained real discussion and depth about the program’s objectives, and it really added to my understanding of Indian culture.” Zylstra says. “It was a privilege to be at the table.”

India’s size and diversity mean that there is no single answer to the question, “What are the educational needs in this country?” The needs fluctuate significantly depending on factors like geographic location and family income, and this broad spectrum challenged producers’ attempts to assign learning objectives to the program.

“Kids’ needs are so varied depending on their context,” Zylstra says.

The answer eventually emerged: focus on the whole child, rather than zeroing in on one educational objective.

The seminar’s participants also decided to stress the importance of respect and understanding among all Indian children, regardless of social standing, religious background, or languages spoken.

Zylstra explains that the primary goal was to build bridges in multicultural India and to represent the country’s “cultural cornucopia.”

Creating effective characters

Boombah answers this need with his outgoing, inquisitive personality. The friendly lion delights in his cultural heritage, believing that he belongs to a historic Indian royal family. He also demonstrates the show’s messages of healthy habits and good nutrition, and revels in dancing and other physical exercise.

Chamki (Galli Galli Sim Sim)

Curious and feisty five-year-old Chamki, another Muppet created for Galli Galli Sim Sim, is dressed in a typical blue and white school uniform, which, Zylstra says, neutralizes her cultural identity and suggests that she is representative of all girls. Chamki has a flair for language, building her vocabulary with new words and creating clever tongue twisters. She’s a problem solver, too, and puts these skills to use as the witty “Detective Chamki.” She also loves games and athletics, and strives to excel in her karate lessons.

Sesame Workshop hopes that by providing Chamki as a role model, Galli Galli Sim Sim will increase female literacy rates and encourage children to stay in school. India has long grappled with gender disparity in its youth literacy rates; according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the boys’ literacy rate was 84 percent in 2001, while the girls’ was 67.7 percent. And according to UNICEF, “many children [in India] drop out before completing five years of primary education.”

Zylstra credits Chamki performer Ghazal Javed with much of the character’s broad appeal, noting the performer’s vibrancy and her ability to connect with viewers.

“She uses the camera, uses her eyes, to really bring that connection home,” says Zylstra. She also points out that Chamki is the most childlike of the characters, which naturally appeals to target audiences.

Appealing to children across a large region

Three-year-old Sareena, who lives in Bangalore, is among Chamki’s fans. Her mother tells international research director Seeta Pai that a few days after Sareena began watching Galli Galli Sim Sim, the little girl assigned Muppet names to each member of her family, saving the name “Chamki” for herself. Her mother thinks shy Sareena looks up to Chamki because she wishes to be more open and self-assured, to ask questions and take charge, just like Chamki does.

Aman with Chamki.

Chamki’s appeal reaches across many miles to a very different part of India. Aman, a four-year-old boy who lives in a slum outside Delhi, watches Galli Galli Sim Sim at a child care center called a balwaadi. There, Chamki helps him learn letters and numbers, and teaches him about being friends, and in his words, “taking turns” with all kinds of children.

Aman is one of many Indian children without access to preschool learning materials. According to Mira Kamdar, author of the book Planet India, “only 65 percent of India’s preschool-age children in rural areas and 52 percent in urban slums can access existing early-childhood education resources.”

With this in mind, Sesame Workshop’s outreach coordinators pay close attention to marginalized children, and bring Galli Galli Sim Sim episodes and related print materials to a wide range of children. Some of these materials are being delivered via repurposed vegetable carts carrying battery-powered televisions and DVD players.

With one out of six children in the world living in India, many of them among the world’s poorest, the potential for positive change is breathtaking. Sesame Workshop hopes many children will benefit from the message Chamki whispered to Aman when the two met recently, “Stay in school, study, work hard; there isn’t anything you can’t do.”




Funding Partners
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Turner Entertainment Networks Asia
ICICI Bank Limited

Production Partners
Miditech
Turner Entertainment

Broadcasters
Doordarshan
Turner (Cartoon Network, POGO)