November 19, 2008

Workshop at Disha foundation

On the 16th of November, Writeherewritenow conducted a Workshop at Disha Foundation. Richa had told me at the outset that I would have to conduct this workshop at the very outset but honestly, I was really nervous about how the workshop would turn out to be. Megha, Richa and I had discussed the concept of the Workshop earlier and we'd brainstormed together till we decided that we would conduct a performance related workshop. We would hand out stories to the children, divide them into groups and finally ask them to rewrite the story with dialogues. Then, they would have to enact their stories so we could get a sense of what they'd written or how they'd interpreted the tale. We also told them that they could work in English, Bangla or Hindi and add songs or dances to their performances if they wanted to. I was quite nervous about the performance bit of it because I'd never conducted a workshop that dealt with performance but Megha reassured me and said that if I went wrong, she'd take over from there.

Since I am nearing my last month of interning with Writeherewritenow, let me just take this opportunity to say that I've had two really fantastic mentors who have guided me every step of the way. I have learnt so much over the last six months and whenever I've made mistakes, I've been taught how to rectify them. A big thank you to Bishan as well who has not only been keeping track of everything that is being done but who also took the time out and actually attended a workshop and took photographs. He has also been brutally honest in terms of feedback, something that I really appreciate. So thank you so much :)

Getting back to the Workshop, I think the kids really enjoyed the workshop and we have videos of them performing which I will upload soon

More later!