Translation Workshop

Writeherewritenow organised a workshop on translation at Disha Foundation,a centre of learning for underprivileged children.
The idea was to ensure that the Writeherewrite now members-most of whom come from very privileged backgrounds could mix with the Disha kids and work with them as a team. Before they were split into groups of three,the Disha children and The Writeherewritenow members (and the new children who attended the workshop for the first time) sat separately,but when they were put into groups, they realised that they would have to work together and began to interact with one another.

The first Creative Writing Exercise was a rather lighthearted one-we called it the icebreaker and gave them words like Nyaka,Paka,Dhishum Dhishum,Chulbuli and Whatever to convert into different languages.

After that,we gave them Sukumar Ray's Ramgarurer Chana to translate.This was a rather difficult poem to translate but Ahaan Ghosh (from Writeherewritenow) and Sujay Tiwari (from Disha) turned out to be the bright sparks in their team and came up with this as their translation:

Ramgarur's Child is a monster
who thinks laughing is a disaster
Telling it funny words is in vain
Everyone laughs at it and yet,it stares
everywhere.

It doesn't want to sleep
and only tells itself
If I ever laugh in my life.
I will beat myself up.

It doesn't go near the woods
as it believes
that the south winds may tickle it
and make it laugh all the time

Its heart is very gloomy
like the dark clouds in the sky
The soul wants to laugh aloud
Yet,it tries to stop itself
With all its might.

At first,the children were apprehensive about translation and we asked them what they thought Translation was. As they were translating, we gave them tips on how to translate.

Next came a Hindi song called Ma from Taare Zameen Par.We ended the session with an Akbar Birbal story.

Mrs Neena Singh and Mrs Ranjana Roy have been tremendously helpful in helping me coordinate and Organise the workshop. A big thank you to Megha and Richa as well calmed my rather jittery nerves (as this was the first workshop that I was conducting.)

Last but definitely not the least,a huge thank you to the Disha kids and the Writeherewritenow kids,for making this event possible.

Back in Action!

Apologies to everyone who's been following this blog. I've been very much at work, but haven't gotten around to writing about it.

Last time, I was in Hyderabad for just three and a half days. Though a fair amount of work got done, there wasn't enough time to get to know the people well enough. This time round, I spent about three weeks in Hyderabad, and felt nice to be surrounded by some wonderful people at my workplace.

Sushma and I were to write a proposal to potential funders willing to support Spark India's proposed Teacher Resource Centre. Since Sushma and I had little experience of proposal writing, it took us quite a while to get started. Eventually we realised it would be best to put down all the points that we thought were essential, and then direct our attention to matters like structure and organisation. Once we put down all the points and gave it some kind of structure, it was passed on to Sheel and Usha who are the decision makers at Spark. Sushma and I got some feedback and comments on our work, and we started redoing the whole thing. Since both of us are new to the place, we don't know much about the history and track record of the organisation, some of which had to be highlighted to attract funders. Putting all of that in, and listing out aims and objectives, plan of action, expected outcomes, etc. made it look a lot better and more professional. That was a good learning experience.

Besides that, I was given some proofreading work. The Telegraph has published a directory of schools, and Spark is planning to contact many of them. The school addresses were put onto the Spark database, but the data entry person had made a huge number of spelling errors. I was asked to proofread them against the original.

I've also been involved with Teacher Plus, a magazine that Spark publishes. It is mainly aimed at school teachers, but is also of interest to parents, researchers and other people who take a keen interest in education. Though the magazine is great, it has been lagging behind because of poor marketing and publicity. I spoke to Mr Tapas Ray who co-ordinates the contact programme of the distance mode Post Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of English at EFL University in Hyderabad. We were able to get permission to distribute complimentary copies of Teacher Plus to 182 students who are in Hyderabad to do the course, and they are from several different parts of the country. We got a good response, and we hope some subscription forms will soon knock at the office. We also visited Aurobindo Montessori School and met the Principal to tell her about Teacher Plus, and gave her some copies to look at.

With Teacher Plus, I also got the wonderful opportunity to get back to writing in a serious way. The person who was to do the cover story for the August issue turned in something that the editing team was not happy with, so they had asked her to redo it. The writer had some other commitments, so she said she wouldn’t be able to do it. Since the cover story was on libraries, I jumped at the idea of taking it up. I had little time on hand and few contacts, so it was a little difficult. But Shalini and Nirmala at Spark were a big help. I fixed up an appointment with Omana Hirantara who runs a learning centre called Kaleidoscope at Begumpet. It’s an interesting place. Apart from the children’s library, they offer a host of other services, one of which is the after school programme. Kids who sign up for this walk into Kaleidoscope after school. They can wash up, change and have a snack; after which, they can sit and read books they like, play with the other children, or look forward to games and educational software. I also had a chat with Radhika Kundalia who runs Akshara, a library in Mumbai. Radhika not only stocks books for children, but also an entire section for parents who have children with autism. Doing the cover story was a lovely experience. It gave me the time and space to think about libraries in a more reflective manner. I learnt how school libraries function, the kind of problems that emerge there, and why it is important to encourage alternative spaces for children. The happiest part was writing the boxes on ‘Caring for Books’ and ‘Do’s and Don’ts for Libraries’. I also found a fun book called ‘I love books’ published by Tulika. It is well-written and beautifully illustrated, a helpful aid for people trying to encourage kids to read.

Here comes the sad part. Though of omitting this, but no, I want to talk about this. There was some unpleasantness at work. I was given a number of things to do, all of which I did. And I sat and waited and waited for a response, which just didn’t come a number of times. My attempt to cope with this was to either look for some diversion or try to find something exciting to do. Now I respect and value my work, and it was difficult to see that things I did were not being taken seriously. At last I lost my patience, and I had to articulate all the disappointment and anger I had felt. It was not well taken at first, but eventually it got sorted out. I also feel happy about the fact that I found many friends at work, with whom I could share my feelings whenever things got bad.

Design Intervention

Hello....

I'm a little new to this.... My name is Nafisa Crishna, I am a textile design student, and I have just finished four years of design at Srishti School of Art, Design, and Technology, Bangalore. Actually, I'm currently doing my Diploma Project on the basis of which I will hopefully graduate in December!! And that’s what brings me here... Choice agreed to help me with this project, which is based on the handloom weavers of Bengal, or Phulia, more specifically.

My project is a research based one where I am looking at design intervention into the craft sector, analyzing the impact of it on the lives of craftsmen. My design brief states

“To study the lives of the weavers of Bengal, as they work under a mode of design intervention, in order to

1. Better my understanding and grasp of the subject of textile design, and of the importance of the involvement of designers in the craft space.

2. In doing so, redefine the context for design intervention in similar craft scenarios.

3. Identify new markets and opportunities for design intervention and sustainable livelihoods for the Bengal weaving community.

4. Understand, streamline and add value to their Intervention process while studying it for a period of three months.

I believe that in the context of this country, to be a successful textile designer, one must have an understanding of the handicraft that is produced, as it forms a part of our culture and heritage, and this plays a very important role in modern textile design. Textiles from across the country form a map of the area it originates from, defining it in terms of colour, detail, motif(s), and patterns. It defines the people – their sense of aesthetics. It defines the State in terms of the raw material available, and the need for certain fabrics. Each region has its own such set of ‘guidelines’, if I may? This craft originated from a need, and has become an identity - the craftsmen sustaining themselves, and their professions. With the emergence of “modern industrialization”, however, these craftsmen seem to find themselves at the bottom of the food chain, so to speak, as newer, more advanced technology takes over, and the impact of Western cultures define the aesthetics for the consumer. “The designer has thus emerged as a critical intermediary whose function, ideally, is to bridge the gap between the rural artisan and the urban client. This is all the more important at a time when the artisan may no longer be a designer, producer, and marketer rolled into one, as he/she was in the past”. The artisans seem to have lost the direct contact they once had with the consumer, and therefore are no longer attuned with their current needs and demands.

There has always been a great market for Indian textiles abroad – dating back to the Fourteenth Century. In reference to Bengal, the first few trades that have been recorded date back to the time of Vasco da Gama in 1578 AD. The quality of the work that was traded then was said to be “the finest ever seen”. Once the English East India Company took over, vast amounts of trade, I terms of textiles, took place - especially since indigo was grown in abundance here. With the onslaught of the Industrial Revolution, which took place post independence, machine-made goods came into the limelight. Textile companies from all over the world invested in India for their production. Today, the demand for the “Indian textile” has risen to another level, giving it a glorified position. ‘Designer ware’ and ‘brand consciousness’ holds a very high position in today’s urban markets. Indian textiles form an integral facet to ‘Brand India’, as part of its ‘image’ as it sells itself to the rest of the world. With the emergence of the Industrial Revolution, power looms, and the concept that ‘time means money”, however, the original craftsman was still the one who found him/herself without a job. Hence, the emergence of the need for design intervention/s.

I understand the need for such intervention at a time when the craft itself was losing its value, but what I question is whether there is a continuing need today when the awareness amongst people is so much more, and “sustainability” is the new buzzword. I feel, what started out as a method to ‘bridge the gap’ has turned into a few rope-bridges across the two, but somehow the crevice has stayed as wide, with no inclination to move towards one another, in a hope to merge at some point. Academic knowledge in terms of design seems to hold the upper hand, and the craftsman is becoming more of a tool than a resource. For example, the method that a craftsman has used over the years to sustain his/her craft, versus the knowledge a designer learns of sustainability through design processes, and guidelines. What will happen if the two should merge? Does it make it a stronger ground for sustaining the craft?

Why me?

My interest in this particular project originated with my internship where I worked with Weavers Studio – a textile house in Calcutta, where Indian textiles are being put in the foreground and sold to markets abroad. Weavers Studio offers jobs to not just weavers, but printers, dyers, master craftsmen in various types of surface embellishments and the like. It has helped them understand the consumer of today, teaching them newer techniques that are not restricted to traditional Indian patterns, but international techniques as well. It is one of the biggest users of natural dyes in its products, promoting the use of indigo – a dye that is indigenous to Bengal. But somehow I found myself wondering about the weaver and his traditional knowledge. What had changed in his knowledge of the craft? Is knowing the technique enough to brand him a ‘craftsman’?

The next example I came across, as a form of design intervention with similar weavers of Bengal was Bailou – the organization I intend to work with to further my study into this subject. Bailou started as a diploma project for Bappaditya six years ago, as he attempted to work with the weavers of Shantipur to produce his designs. Being declined at first by the Weavers Union, he appealed to the weavers once again, and was accepted by a single weaver who offered one out of the two looms he owned. Today, there are one hundred and fifty weavers working with Bailou. They are mostly sari weavers who traditionally work with different types of sari weaving techniques (e.g. jamdaani, dhakai). What I find most appealing about their work is the understanding they have jointly obtained of the various types of weaves that were traditionally used; thus allowing them to break its pattern, yet keep its fundamentals intact. I find the subtlety used in the products extremely inspiring as it uses the medium of weaving to its full potential – no surface textures or external embellishments are used. It directs the attention of the consumer to the fabric and its qualities alone. There is a dialogue between the designer and the craftsman, not a form of dictatorship. Bailou believes that the weaver should not be asked to move his workspace to that of a factory setup, as his home is conducive to the making of the product, where each member of the family has a role to play. I propose to study this aspect in detail. Have the design processes used here in terms of intervention enhanced the chances of the craft being sustained, and widened the scopes of its markets? Does this work better than giving the craftsman an opportunity to work with his craft, yet not be involved in the creative input? What is the importance of design intervention in lieu with sustainability? Is it just to provide jobs for the craftsmen, or empower them?

I intend to study this example of involvement in West Bengal, with the weavers as they struggle to sustain their craft in order to understand another facet of intervention within the same craft. Through this study, I aim to gain a firmer grasp on the situation, that will help me make my decisions as a practitioner in this field, and perhaps, further the awareness that is being generated, thus assisting in the formation of that point of intersection between craft and design.”

Currently, I'm at the grass-root level of my research, and will hopefully be able to dig out enough information over the next three months so as to generate awareness and suggest a platform for such craftsmen.

My work is also being documented at http://weftsidestory.blogspot.com/ - So please feel free to give me feedback! Thanks!!

This week...

This week has been about writing letters and coming up with Concept Notes. I am happy to declare that Writeherewritenow will be having a workshop at the Disha Foundation on the 27th of July (Next Sunday) and the workshop will be on Translation. Also,I've been looking up data and preparing the module for my work on Sunday. More updates later :)

Internship with Kolkata Sanved -- 1

My internship with Sanved began this month and it's turning out to be everything I imagined it would be. I've been wanting to work in a larger capacity with Sanved for years now and I am truly grateful to Seagull for giving me the opportunity to do so. For those of you who aren't familiar with the work Sanved does, it's a human rights agency that rehabilitates women who have been trafficked, using dance movement therapy (DMT). My interest in drama therapy had drawn me to Sanved and its director, Sohini Chakraborty, and we had often talked about working together, since there are several points of intersection between dance movement therapy and drama therapy. One of the focal areas of my internship will be developing and conducting sessions with some of the organizations Sanved holds DMT classes for. At the moment I will be developing sessions for Apne Aap Women Worldwide (Topsia) and Parichiti (Dhakuria) and in spite of having just begun my work in this regard, it's already given me a lot to think about.

My sessions are geared towards helping the participants understand and express through movement as well as facial expressions various kinds of emotions. At a surface level, the idea is to help them comprehend what they are feeling and allow their bodies to express these emotions fully. On another level, such an exercise helps individuals understand that it is hard for a feeling to be purely one feeling. For instance, anger can also bring with it pain and hurt and it thus comprises at least two other emotions. Finally, at its deepest level, this exercise helps you express unpleasant emotions you may be feeling and then find ways in which you can tackle these emotions. One of the sessions I will be working on now is aimed at dealing with anger. Expressing it, tackling it, and letting go of it. I have some ideas but I won't know how viable they are until I actually put them into practice.

Seeing how the girls at Apne Aap took to my sessions on emoting was extremely rewarding because I could see how the participants began to open up. In my first class, I asked them to express joy or happiness and it was wonderful to see how imaginatively they expressed these emotions. Sometimes, their expressions would have shades of love and wonder in them and so they'd realize the other feelings that could fall under the larger umbrella of joy. The girls seemed to enjoy the session and later told my co-trainer that they would like more exercises that would facilitate a release of emotions in them.

The sessions with Parichiti served to demonstrate how your class structures will have to adapt to the nature of your participants as well as the space that is available to you. In theory, the women we are working with through Parichiti and the girls we are working with in Apne Aap are similar. They are economically disadvantaged, their living conditions are poor and they are compelled to meet several demands placed on them by their families. But beyond these superficial similarities their needs are very different. For starters, the girls are, to a certain extent, able to leave behind the problems inherent in their daily lives when they come to Apne Aap. They get to take classes there that provide them with a respite of sorts from what they will have to return to. However, the women we are working with through Parichiti are still caught up with their daily work routines even as we work with them. The classes we conduct take place on the Dhakuria Railway Station platform so while they are waiting for their train to come in, we take classes. Needless to say, the needs of the situation are different. Our classes have to take into account the space at our disposal (the busy platform) as well as the fact that the women will have to leave as soon as their train(s) comes in. At present, our classes are incorporating light theatre/dance games that help build a sense of community spirit which accommodate some participants leaving and new participants coming in. It will be challenging to see how far we can go in building a sense of solidarity, trust and mirth through these classes.

That basically sums up my experiences so far. In the weeks ahead I hope to, as I said earlier, work more on emoting exercises and perhaps bring in a bit of Image Theatre. In Image Theatre, a story is created by each participant adding to something one participant started. The final product looks like a picture with every participant having contributed to creating a story. This has scope for emoting as well as telling a story through emotions, so I would like to see how my class at Apne Aap, in particular, takes to it.

Internship at Meta-Culture, Week 1

Hello All,

My name is Mihika and I am interning at Meta-Culture, Bangalore. I recently finished my undergrad at McGill University in Montreal, Canada with a double major in History and Political Science. I knew I wanted to come back to India but wasn't very sure how I could use my degree here or how and where I could fit it. Through word of mouth, I heard about Meta-Culture, a conflict resolution organization, and of course Googled it, applied for an internship and was lucky enough to be funded by Choice.

Meta-Culture consists of a non- profit called Meta-Culture Dialogics(MCD) and for-profit called Meta-Culture Consulting (MCC). Dialogics works on community related projects like facilitating dialogue and intervening between conflicting parties whether they be families or communities and through education and outreach programs. Consulting on the other hand, uses dispute management, communication skill building and mediation to create productive working environments within other organizations. (For more info check out www.meta-culture.org and www.meta-culture.in)

I arrived on Wednesday and walked into a staff meeting at 9am which I soon discovered is how the day usually begins at Meta-Culture. The staff here consists of people of different backgrounds, nationalities and ethnicities who work as an extremely cohesive team and seem to constantly be on their toes. This was immediately refreshing compared to previous internships and offices i have been in and I was excited to start work and feel like part of the team.

I started my internship with some basic admin work for MCC, like sending out emails and familiarizing my self with the setup here. On Friday, I was allowed to sit in on a very important meeting discussing and formalizing the governing policy of MCD. This was really exciting because it was like being part of the writing of the 'constitution' of Dialogics. On Saturday, the entire office split up and went putting up posters for an event that Dialogics is hosting called "Bengaluru Speaks"- a forum where MCD will be facilitating dialogue between citizens and discussing issues pertaining to the city of Bangalore.

This week onwards I will be working with the Consulting division on an Open Enrollment seminar called "Managing Workplace Conflict". More on this later.

Cheers!

This Week...

This last week has been rather interesting. I have been blogging on two blogs (The Choice Blog and the Writeherewritenow Blog. Since I don't want material on the blogs to overlap, I've decided to write about my Experiences and personal growth on this blog while I'm going to be documenting news of the Workshops on the Writeherewritenow Blog.


This week, I've had a meeting with Sanjoy Mukherjee of NIE who seems interested in the "Writing as Therapy" idea, but I'm still awaiting confirmation from him.

Like I've already stated in my previous post, Writeherewritenow has a Facebook Group. The Facebook group is really helping in terms of networking and getting people to write guest columns for Writeherewritenow. We already have one for August and the ones for September, October and November are on their way.

The idea is to ensure that Writeherewritenow an active online community and so participation is absolutely essential. I've been getting hold of kids and telling them to write. However ( I don't know whether this is true for only the kids that I've been interacting with or kids in general) they are far more comfortable playing with Playstation 2. So it really IS a good idea to get them involved in writing.

On the very first day that I met Megha, she explained to me that the site was for people who wanted to take writing seriously and it didn't NECESSARILY mean Creative Writing. The Website is also important for children who want to become editors or go into publishing later on.


I've been having a lot of fun, working and learning. I've made some really stupid mistakes as well (largely due to ignorance and inexperience), but it's a learning experience and I'm enjoying every moment of it.

Writeherewritenow's Facebook Group

WritehereWritenow has a Facebook Group so Please Do join (if you haven't already)


http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=23073907007