Hyderabad was a good experience. I spent three and a half days there. Left from Mumbai on the night of June 16, and got back here on the morning of June 21.
One of my days was spent at the printer's, with Pawan and Achala who work at Spark. We had gone there with the proofs of the book I had proofread and passed on to Sheel while she was in Mumbai. It was a bit boring to sit and read out corrections to the guy at the printer's, but then that stage of print production is really important.
Spent the rest of my days in Hyderabad at the Spark office. Met Sushma who has recently joined the organization as the co-ordinator of the teacher resource centre. Sushma, Sheel and I had a few meetings, discussing and brainstorming on different aspects related to the proposed resource centre -- classification of the existing collection, acquisition of new material (which I've been doing in Mumbai), exploring sources of funding, putting together a databse of resource persons who would conduct workshops, and getting feedback from prospective users of the resource centre. Enjoyed all of that. We also sorted out a big pile of publisher catalogues, school brochures and other stuff. And then drew up a list of places I would visit after getting back to Mumbai. Met some other people at Spark, and there was a bit of bonding. Usha and Sheel are wonderful people.
After coming back to Mumbai, I have visited two places in connection with my resource centre work -- ADAPT and Hobby Ideas.
ADAPT stands for Abled Disabled All People Together. It was earlier called the Spastics Society of India. I spent an afternoon there, looking at the materials in their National Resource Centre on Inclusion, and making notes. Bought a few publications and films produced by them. And enquired about the teacher training courses they conduct. Arati Thakur, the librarian, was very helpful. She even offered to mail me a lot of other useful information over email.
Hobby Ideas is a children's store where they stock materials on art and craft related hobbies. A lot of the stuff was, frankly speaking, not at all conducive to creativity. I mean, what's the point of encouraging a child to make a card on his own, and then supplying him with a whole kit and how-to-guide on it?! Anyway, I did get a good lead there. There's a place called Parksons Games in Daman. They have some really interesting stuff. Will check that out.
Oh, and while I was in Hyderabad, had a chat with Prof Alok Bhalla. He gave me a lot of suggestions about people and places connected with education and children's literature.
Well, that's it for now!
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2 comments:
i'm glad that the hyderabad trip was fruitful.
it is true that visiting the press and going through the rigmarole of corrections is tedious, but it is, as you note yourself, a very important part of the entire process. it's cool that you did it. often those who work in the editorial sections of publishing houses have little idea about how the press works. and i think that is rather sad. the advantage that smaller publishers have is that even the editors are often in the know of how the entire process of printing a book works. that only adds to their expertise. that is the case with Seagull Books, and am sure with Spark as well.
during my last trip to bombay, i visted the National Resource Centre for Inclusion. they are a genuinely wonderful and hard-working group of people, and i was deeply moved and greatly impressed with their work. if you ever meet Varsha Hooja there, tell her about Choice and me. I am yet to find them an intern though. :(
i do see eye-to-eye with you on Hobby Ideas. it is this kind of formulaic creativity that needs to be challenged. of course, it's tricky. for instance, i have done creative writing workshops with youth, and it is essential that you begin with basic formulae, especially when they are bing introduced to a craft that is very new to them. but the achievement lies in thinking beyond those formulae. work is needed on that. on how we can provide springboards for creative young people rather than cages.
well, carry on your work. we at choice are greatly interested in your progress :)
best,
b.
Bishan,
I agree. For someone who enjoys the making of a book, each stage becomes so special in itself. It was good to visit the press.
I want to share something that happened there. Achala, Pawan and I (all from Spark) were working with two guys at the printer's in this very small room, cramped with two computers, some other equipment, some chairs and stools and junk. Few minutes into our work, we heard some sounds from behind the computers, and later realised that a cat and two kittens were trapped there in between the wires. We requested the printer guys to let us shift the computer tables so that the cats could come out. They refused to let us do that. We went and met the manager of the place who was quite amused with our concern. And he actually said that he didn't care if the animals died or survived. After this, we were told that the animals had been there since the last three days. We begged the manager to let us get the animals out, but he urged us to carry on with our work, and promised that he would depute some workers to get the cats out.
We got done with our work by afternoon, and approached the issue again. One of the guys in the room got a bit irritated, and wanted us to go away and not bother them. At this point, we called up Sheel (my senior at Spark) and asked if it would be alright to call up the Blue Cross people. I was incredibly happy to know that Sheel didn't have to 'think' about it. She didn't seem to care about the professional equations with the printer guys. She just told me: You guys go ahead and call the Blue Cross. I'll speak to the manager if there's a problem later.
That we couldn't get through to the Blue Cross is another story. Anyway, I thought it important to share this experience because it feels good to work with an organisation that cares about other beings.
About the National Resource Centre on Inclusion: I haven't met Varsha there. I met Arati Thakur. She's the librarian. A really helpful person. You could find an intern for them by approaching students of colleges or institutes that offer courses in special education. SNDT University in Bombay is one.
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