The Curtain Call

My CHOICE internship has almost come to an end. This is my last month. I have had a wonderful time working with SAPPHO and KALAM. Both the organisations offered me a space to learn and disseminate my own learnings. Whilst KALAM had me take a more creative role through the workshops i took and facilitated it also allowed me the ground for an ethnographic study of a certain community of children who come from the disadvantaged part of the society. This has helped me further in understanding and continuing work in this field.

SAPPHO took me to a whole new world. For the uninitiated its a lesbian support group and to actually be able to be part of their work, advocacy and mission was a huge boost to me. It allowed me to closely observe the nascent lesbian community in Kolkata. Look at and adress issues related to health, support structure and expression. I have been associated majorly with some basic archiving and data collection work and in helping with the Queer Conference which was held earlier this year. Both were extremely self satisfying and learning.

Today as i am about to complete my last few days of the internship i feel a bit nostalgic and sad that this had to come to an end, however i do feel privileged to have been a part of this learning process which gave me a first hand insight into the workings of a NGO model and practical fieldwork in undersatnding the people, community and children i want to work with in the near future.

x

The Last Shot.

The final stint at CHOICE has come to an end.

These are some of the photographs that the last photo therapy session produced.

We now have a treasure trove of such photographs which can be used n a variety of ways in the future. As reader's might remember, my project was to have ended in an awareness exhibition. However, due to financial constraints this has been shelved, for the time being. Instead I'm putting together a small docu using these photographs, health economics, and a bit of my journey. Ratna and Dr.D.Chatterjeeare being very helpful. Fun Fact: I still have to find an editor, who'll work for free! So that's a little worry.

I'm hoping to have round it up by mid-August.. Seagull Open House is coming up, so I'm really very excited!

Though my internship has come to an end, I have decided to keep visiting Lumbini at least a couple of times a month..

I feel inexorably linked to the place and the people.

But an expanse of bittersweet feelings surface with the knowledge that CHOICE itself will be winding up.. It's been over a year, and I've learnt so so very much from every person I've interacted with!

Without CHOICE and Seagull the photo therapy project would not have been possible. It's opened up several exciting avenues. I feel much more confident about the project and it's usefulness and perhaps even necessity. I think it's a great form of therapy and we've hit upon some brilliant photographer's :)

We all eagerly looked forward to Friday mornings, which is when we usually had photo therapy sessions at Lumbini. They gradually eased into the classes, and by the end of it, some of them were really looking forward to handling the camera and coming up with beautifully framed shots. I have to admit that I was tremendously shaky when the project started, but at the end of it, looking back I feel tremendously grateful and a great deal more confident.

I am eagerly looking forward to the completion of a documentary and future projects with photo therapy.

And if it weren't for CHOICE it wouldn't even exist..

It's been a great great experience working here..

Of course, we'll all keep running into each other.

Cheers.

Wrapping Up

As I sit down to write my last Choice post, I realize I'm not sure where to begin. Summing up a year's experience of anything is hard. Summing up a year's opportunity to work in a field you've been passionate about is even harder. I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I am and will always be grateful to the Choice programme of Seagull to have given me the support I needed to enter this field. I don't think I'd have been able to start working with Sanved sans a project like Choice. Yes, I'd known Sohini di much before I heard of Choice. I'd also worked as a volunteer for her and told her I would love to work for her on a regular basis. But Sanved is a small organization, and did not have the resources to create employment for someone like me. I truly believe that when you want to work in the development sector, where funds are low, and, even more so, if you are drawn to a small NGO because of the innovative work it does, it helps immensely if there is an intermediary organization/agency that acts as a link between you and the organization you want to work with. In this respect what Choice does is invaluable.

For me, the best part of being a Choice intern with Sanved was I got the chance to put into practice all that I'd studied as a graduate student. My work with Sanved was an uncanny extension of my final thesis. In my thesis I researched how performance can be used to rehabilitate and empower women who have been abused. While working with Sanved I used theatre as a tool for empowerment in my sessions with the girls at Apne Aap Women Worldwide. Almost every week I would take sessions geared towards making them more comfortable with their bodies and more confident as women. Admittedly, these were the classes I looked forward to the most. Looking back, I can think of a couple of girls who I saw transform in the course of my sessions with them. Nothing can beat that feeling when you see girls who were reserved, withdrawn and acutely self-conscious gradually become confident, articulate and comfortable with their identities. Another girl seemed to have a natural knack for acting and performing. Watching her take on roles in short skits we would stage in the class was so wonderfully rewarding.

Another reason why I will hold this year-long experience close to my heart is that it strengthened my conviction that drama therapy was the area I wanted to work in. There is always the possibility that when you actually work in the field, you realize that it may not be what you had thought it would be or that you aren't cut out for it. But during this year, I never tired of the work; nor did I feel I wouldn't manage. I kept learning on the job, thinking and rethinking session plans based on the responses I got. Gaining experience in preparing classes, changing modules according to the needs of the participants was additionally advantageous. Indeed, I think I managed to do nearly everything I'd wanted to do during this internship.

On a personal note, working with Sanved made me much clearer of my assets and shortcomings as a drama therapist (if I can call myself that). I'm a lot more confident about facilitating sessions. I don't know if I'm a good facilitator, but I know what I can do to become better. I know I need to develop counselling skills in the long-run because verbal counselling is an important part of my work as well. One of my future objectives is to enroll in a course in counselling.

In the next year, as an employee of Sanved, I hope to develop my skills in the area further and conceptualize at least one rights-based performance. I'm also looking forward to devising sessions for HIV infected children in my monthly classes with Offer, an NGO working with HIV patients. I'm sure there will be other projects that will come up as interest in alternative forms of therapy increases; I'm fortunate to be working with an NGO that is at such an exciting stage in its life. But none of this would have been possible had Choice not given me a grant to build my experience in this field. Thank you, Choice.

Chetana Resource Centre

One of the primary and important additions to Sappho since its inception has been its resource centre. It houses some of the best films and books on LGBT issues from India and across the world. It also archives News paper clippings, articles and journals related to Queer issues.

One of the duties i was given as an intern for some weeks had been to archive and make a proper registry of the library holdings. It was quite interesting since i love reading books and articles, and every time a name struck interesting to me i got the book and article out and keeping my work aside read them.

The library is free and open to anyone who is working on these issues or are just interested. It does not have lending facilities but you may read it there or get relevant portions photocopied. Not too many people know about this and i thought i should share this.

For more details check out: www.sapphokolkata.org/chetana/

Dialogues 2009

Dialogues- The Queer film festival organised by Sappho for Equality and Pratyay Gender Trust was back this year with a bigger bang. Due to my post- graduation hectic schedule i could not be a part of the planning session for the festival. However i was a volunteer during the festival and the crowd could at best be described as Mad.

There were some very interesting films that were shown. Parvez Sharma's Jehad for Love being a personal favourite. (which i incidentally saw last year at another film festival). What many people do no know is that Parvez used to live in our own city many years back before moving to the States. The film depicted islam and sexuality as opposing forces and how a group of muslim gay men wanted to reconcile them in their own ways. It was a beautiful saga. Poignant and moving. (Can i add at this point that i will be meeting Parvez in person later next month at the World Outgames Human Rights Conference. *wink wink*)

The short film section was very intersting too- Creative and informative. Films like 'Gender Trouble', 'Milind Soman made me Gay', 'Pablo' and the very brilliant 'Are we talking Straight' made us sit up and take notice. 'Are we talking straight' was a docu fature made in Kolkata on the occasion of Anti homophobic day. It was quite shocking to see youth voices screaming about the unnaturalness of same sex love and how it is a psychological problem that can be cured parallel to voices from other people who understand and support the right of individual freedom and expression. The film was a jolting revelation of the truth we fail to see in our own idealistic lives and the attitude of the general populace towards homosexuality.

Lastly but not least i would like to talk about Shameem sarif's 'The world unseen' a story of two indian women in 1952's apartheid South africa. The film was beautiful and laced with strong performances by Lisa ray, nandana sen, and sheetal seth. Last heard it still hasnt got clearance for a theatrical release in india but the festival allowed us to watch the film which we might not be able to see anytime soon.

The festival boasted of a strong mix of viewers- from Tv stars to activists, academics and film makers. It truly paved the way for discussion and debates on the stigma and celebration of love- two sides of the same coin.

"Ankur" and then some

Continuing from where I left off in my last post, our work with Shaw Public School culminated in an hour-long performance on the 9th and 10th of April. There were six of us from Kolkata Sanved who choreographed and stitched together the performance. The Kolkata-based band, Friends of Fusion, handled the music; they selected and trained the choir and performed the songs and instrumental pieces live. This was another exciting feature of the process: developing the music and movement for the performance. It was a wonderfully collaborative venture with both the music and the movements influencing and shaping each other. The underlying theme of the performance (which we named Ankur: Rebirth) was the need for environmental conservation and human sensitivity to other forms of life. We set Ankur in the Himalayas and the animals and birds we showcased (all brilliantly enacted by the Nursery and Kindergarten children!) comprised highly endangered species.The songs which were performed included Satyajit Ray's Aha ki ananda, Rabindranath Tagore's Akash bhara surya-tara and Sting's Fragile. Poems like Emily Dickenson's Hope, an original piece by the school's Hindi teacher and a couple of verses by Tagore were weaved into the presentation. The fact that this was an open-air production heightened its effect and, I think, enhanced what we were trying to convey through it. I'll try and get some photos of the performance to put up here.The girls were incredibly enthusiastic and hardworking and I am looking forward to working with them more when the new session of the school begins.

After the Shaw Public School performance came to an end, it's been back to office work: report writing, grant applications and the like. I did, however, conduct a class with the girls in Apne Aap on faith and spirituality. I asked them to enact individually (and then in groups) what faith meant to them. Once again, I was struck by their astute observations and clarity of thought regarding concerns like religious fundamentalism.

My internship with Choice is drawing to a close, a thought that saddens me a bit because I'm not a big fan of (good) things coming to an end. There are times when I think the past year just zipped by, while at other times, I feel like I've grown a lot in this field during these twelve months. But these thoughts call for a separate post, which I shall write soon enough :-).

The Conference!

Queer Thoughts, the national conference organized by Sappho for Equality which was held on the 10th and 11th April, saw a very good turnout. Delegates had come from abroad and other parts of India, either to present a paper or just support the cause.

There was some very thought provoking stuff discussed which ranged from Dr Dhar talking about Freud, Lacan and psychonalysis to Sutanuka talking about polymorphosity and the multiplicity of identity.

I presented the first paper of the conference and am glad to say it went off rather well. I spoke about identifying and locating the 'Queer' identity in Popular Indian Culture (which was mainly films). I spoke at length about Fire and My brother Nikhil and also comparing it to more 'general' films like Honeymoon travels Pvt Ltd. and how the identity has changed over time. The Queer man from being the ridiculed character in side role to taking over as the mainstream serious hero.

The other papers were quite good too. In particular I like Niluka's paper on Disability and Sexuality in the Sri Lankan context. Also noteworthy was Monidipa's paper on Kari( a graphic novel by amruta patil on a lesbian girl) Its important to see how the proliferation of the different kinds of media has given it a more wider readership and understanding in terms of both engaging the heteronormative audience and in interrogating the flailing gender theories.

Pramada Menon comments on joining the academic space with the activist's voice was another point worth thinking about.
All in all the conference went off rather well and I am looking forward to more such events in the near future. Next on the cards is The Queer film festival (June or July, i will know exact dates soon) at Max Mueller Bhaban later this year.



P.S: Photo courtesy Niluka Gunawardena

Lumbini. The Start.

Over the last month, I started frequenting Lumbini Park Mental hospital. Tucked away in a corner of New Ballygunge, the inconspicuous and harmless yellow building houses one of the 3 mental hospitals in the city, where ANJALI runs it's rehab programmes. On my very visit, I was there to attend the "Basanta Utsab" (Spring Festival) organised by ANJALI. I didn't get to interact with them, cos the place was flooded with guests and they themselves, were flushed with the performances they'd put up.

The first impression of Lumbini, left me quite shaken. The narrow corridors, the dingy dorms, the rough beds, the cage in the female ward, where the warden sat under a fan, chit chatting... and mostly, the faces, of all the inmates..

The idea of starting photo therapy there, had grown and fermented in my head. I had spoken to both ANJALI, and CHOICE, about the revamped project, so now I set about talking to the people who would from he axis. On my next few visits, I went alone, and without my camera. It didn't take very long to get familiar with them. They love having someone to talk to, and they talk a lot. They absorb you into their world..

Gradually I broached the topic of photography. Most of them were very enthusiastic, but some had their reservations. But the response was overall, predominantly positive. So, over the last month, armed with an old digital point and shoot, I started taking the photography "classes".

Since there was only one camera going around, it also gave us time to talk. They slipped easily into personal accounts of their stay in Lumbini, and their memories, and sometimes delusions. A game that we often play, is "Moner Frame-e, ei muhurte, kon chobi ta ghurche?" (Which picture do you see in your mind's frame right now?)

The results are absolutely intriguing.. Ranging from childhood stories to complaints against the hospital authorities, it paints a vivid picture of the lives they lead.

I am collecting narrative and pictures from these visits to design the eventual awareness workshop. Here are some of the pictures, they've taken so far:

More soon. 

Pujarini.

Intern, ANJALI.

Last minute Conference prep

Come then, I pray,
grant me surcease from sorrow,
Drive away care,
I beseech thee,
O goddess Fulfil for me what
I yearn to accomplish,
Be thou my ally.

~Sappho~

The conference is less than ten days away. Work is on full swing. The Conference related literature is being published (the abstracts and bio notes on the key speakers). Activists like Pramada Menon, Asha Achuthan, academics like Dr Amit Dhar and Paromita Chakraborti will be chairing the sessions and presenting special papers.

The conference will be a good ground for ethnographic study and discussion on queer issues in India. There are a number of gay movements taking place through out the world and in particular south asia through literature, films, photography and direct activism.. It is time to interrogate the muffled silence of acceptance identity, morality and religion that are intertwined together within the tapestry of the Indian gay movement impacting the erotic silence of the closet and the dynamics of a love that we are afraid to speak of. This conference will bring to light all those issues, ideas and support.

P.S: i have put up a event invitation on facebook called 'Queer thoughts' Please RSVP if you want to attend.

Creating Spaces

Pain penetrates
me drop
by drop

~Sappho~


Another week has flown by in Sappho. The Queer conference date is inching closer and the abstracts have come in. While reading through some of them, i was surprised how the many facets of being queer or living queer can be expressed. It was surprising to read about issues like court cases where the wife has been accused of adultery with another woman, or recent queer discussions in the literary circle. India has produced one of its very first queer graphic novel in Amruta Patil's Kari.

The conference which is scheduled to take place on 10th and 11th April is being organised on a grand scale. H L Roy auditorium in Jadavpur University has already been booked for the occasion and now arrangements are being made to fix accommodation and transport for the outstation speakers and the chairpersons. Work is on full swing at Sappho with the conference. What is unique about the conference is also the fact that all the speakers will be from the age range 18-28. This was to ensure that we could look and discuss recent queer theory and development through the eyes of the youth. The old age theorisations suddenly seem to have fallen from grace with the rapid globalization and the growing want to create a new identity that does not ape the West or look back at the medieval course. As such the papers and the speakers chosen will be those who can give shape to the creation of this Indian queer identity and in breaking the silent monolith of MSM and WSW.

P.S: SAPPHO is putting up a play tomorrow at The School of Womens Studies at JU on the occasion of International Woman's Day. (Its being celebrated on 20th of March instead of 8th March due to certain logistical and arrangement issues)

P.P.S: People who are interested to attend the Queer conference on single/both the days are requested to start registering with me at sapphoqueerconference@gmail.com . This will help us to keep count of the anticipated number of people who might turn up and will ensure there is sufficient lunch and snacks for all the participants and attendees.

A Day’s Reflection

(written Feb 13, 2009)

Two weeks ago, I finally gave in to the hype and went to see Slumdog Millionaire with some of my fellow CINI interns. I will not add to the slew of editorials that already exist about the movie, but I will say this. I cannot think of a more fitting way to spend that evening seeing as I had spent the afternoon visiting the field where I will perform my study. I will not presume to compare real life to a fictional story, but I found that my experience of each was heightened by the other.

The area I speak of happens to be one of the minority slum communities of Kolkata. With one of the most experienced field workers as my guide, I spent a few hours in the field meeting mothers and their children and getting a feel for the community itself. Although hidden from the unobservant eye, the maze of narrow and circuitous lanes houses a population of more than 6,000 inhabitants. It has existed for quite some time, and while migration is common, it seems there are a many longstanding members of the community as well. As I walked, through the lanes, I found that the community members were just as curious about me as I was about them. Where was I from? What was my life like and what did I spend my days doing? Interestingly enough, CINI has the same questions of them, which is why I was visiting in the first place.
After climbing a pile of stones to the main road above, I found many thoughts circling around in my head. What I found most comforting at the end of the visit, was the genuine kindness I was shown by people who were essentially perfect strangers. It struck me though, that in a sense I wasn’t a perfect stranger. I was coming on behalf of the CINI community, which had now become part of the field community. A sense of trust and care had been created between CINI and the community, and that was in turn shown towards me on my visit.

Three hours later, as the movie started, I was still thinking about the events of the afternoon. As I watched the film, I couldn’t help but see the faces of the children I had met earlier in the day. Perhaps it was because of the fellow CINI interns sitting beside me, but after some time, it occurred to me that the film was in a sense doubling as a CINI training video. As the vignettes unfolded, one after another they seemed to cover every child protection issue that CINI has included in its mission, from curbing child trafficking to saving children from a life on the streets.
And after watching the film in its entirety, I had fallen victim to my sympathetic tendencies. Still, I found that it wasn’t only because of the film I had just watched, but also because of how it made me reflect on what I had seen earlier in the day. While I know it’s a fictional fairy tale, I found myself wishing that the sense of possibility for children was real, especially for children without money, without homes, and without families, for the CIN of CINI, the children in need.

Now what exactly is this CINI?

(Written Jan 30 2009)

My first month working as an intern at CINI Asha, the urban unit of the Child in Need Institute, has flown by. In the first week, myself and nine other new interns from around the world (India, the Phillipines, Italy, England, Holland, Scotland and the United States) were given a thorough orientation on the projects that the CINI is involved in throughout the greater Kolkata area. Complete strangers that first day, we quickly go to know each other. In a few days time, we had visited many of the rural and urban field areas with community mobilizers that work directly in with our populations. Throughout the week, I came to appreciate that both the “Life Cycle Approach” and the concept of creating child and woman friendly communities, CWFCs, are integral to the work that CINI does. I am still learning how these concepts can be applied effectively, but my initial gut feeling was relief that the ideology on public health seemed to match my own in many ways.

I have now been working in the Health Unit of CINI Asha for three weeks. As each day passes, I am introduced to new facets of the work that the Health Unit performs. With six extremely populous fields under their charge, it is no wonder that the office is often buzzing with conversation about the next project. In my time as an intern, I will be involved in many aspects of the HU work, including running a study of the health and nutrition status of the mothers and under five children in the population of one of our most afflicted target areas. In this first month, I have been working out the details of that study. It has been a much more involved than I expected, including developing and editing time and again, the questions that the research will cover, the list of eligible participants, enlisting the help of a Hindi-speaking community mobilizer to conduct the survey, and familiarizing myself with the work that health workers in the field perform on a regular basis.

The health unit has been providing services to the community for many years. Still, it is rare that it has the extra manpower to assess the quality of the work it is performing in the community. Our hope is that the results of this study will give us a better understanding of one of the communities where we work and will thereby allow us to improve the services the CINI Asha provides. While there are always challenges when joining a new working environment, I feel that CINI Asha will be a wonderful place to intern for the coming months. Slowly I am learning the many languages being thrown around in the office and the best part is discovering new smiling faces every day when I wind the stairs of Amader Bari. It has been a whirlwind of a beginning, but I am looking forward to the ride ahead.

Hi Everyone!!!

I'm Sarmistha and a new Choice intern. This is the first time I'm posting a blog and I'm happy that it starts here at Choice.

I'm interning at an NGO called Bakul Foundation in Bhubaneswar. Well its not exactly an NGO, I mean it falls into a slightly different category,as in, it doesn't have employees running around doing its work, but instead volunteers, happy to spend their time doing something meaningful than to while away their time at some coffee shop. That is how I got hooked with Bakul. The entire concept of volunteerism and people actually working without any financial motivators was very intriguing as well as exciting.

Now let me introduce you to Bakul properly. Bakul Foundation is a movement for volunteerism in Orissa. Acting on the belief that substantial change is possible when thousands get together, Bakul attempts to pool together the small individual energies of the people who want to bring about change in the society. Hence, Bakul seeks to harness the huge and largely untapped volunteerism of students, retired persons, homemakers, working people and non-resident Indians for social and environmental development.

As its first initiative, Bakul mobilized more than a thousand individuals to contribute in small ways to set up a Children's Library in Bhubaneswar. The entire library has been built and is running with small individual contributions of ordinary people without any corporate or institutional funding so far.

Bakul is also into Arts, in January 2009 Bakul, in collaboration with 'Art and Deal' magazine, New Delhi, organized the 'BAKUL ART FEST 2009' and got tremendous response from artists and public alike. I got the opportunity to co-ordinate the Art Fest. The theme of the art fest was, 'TOWARDS A NEW VIEWERSHIP/AUDIENCE' and I think to a great extent it was able to spread its message. The main focus was to reach out to people (the first time viewers) who've never had an opportunity to get introduced to the world of arts. To those who never had a gallery experience it was a new revelation all together.

The Art Fest started on 15 Jan with the preview of the Art Exhibition. Around 36 National as well as Bhubaneswar based artists came together for the first time in Bhubaneswar for this event. There were 3 elements of the Art Fest, the 'ART WALL FOR PEACE' , the 'ART EXHIBITION' and the 'VIDEO EVENINGS'. The 500 feet long 'WALL for PEACE' was painted by 300 odd people from all walks of life. Starting from the artists to art students to school children to rag pickers. There were differently abled children as well from the deaf schools and also from Open Learning System participating with equal enthusiasm. It was a sight to behold, with so many people coming up with such amazing paintings all on the theme of Peace.

The art exhibition attracted even more people as we tried even harder to reach out to people to spread our message. There was a lot of publicity in both English and Oriya newspapers and also through local TV and FM stations. A lot of people turned up by reading our article in the newspapers. We also coordinated with a lot of schools to arrange visits by students to the exhibition. Their response was over exhilarating. More than 1000 people visited the gallery and it was very satisfying to see that people could connect to art in their own various ways and the response of the school children was overwhelming.

The Video Evenings were a success too as it was a relatively new concept among the public here. It was exciting to experience different forms of expression for the first time.

The Art Fest concluded on 28th Jan and it didn't even feel that 2 weeks had passed. It was my first experience coordinating something at such a large scale. Personally I gained a lot from this experience, interactions with the artists gave me a different insight to the paintings and the entire experience also helped me develop my own outlook and approach towards arts.

I'm really happy I got such an opportunity so early on in life by Bakul and Choice.

Regards..
me...

The Surprise Package

In my last post I had spoken about how I wanted to give more time to developing theatre sessions for children. Funnily enough, I have now been put in charge of coordinating a project involving a mainstream school. So not only will I have to supervise the project and give regular reports to Sanved, I will also get the chance to work intensively with children and conceptualize a programme involving them. Needless to say, I am very excited about this. I’ve been looking up some books on doing theatre for children and have also talked in depth with my co-trainers at Sanved regarding formulating sessions. A couple of months ago they had been enrolled in a 14-day course in dance movement therapy and one of the areas of focus was working with children. As a result, their own expertise in planning sessions for children has increased and all of us (who are involved in the project) are looking forward to working together.

But going back to the project in question. A few months ago, one of my all-time favourite school teachers, Anjana Saha, had contacted me and asked me if I was interested in doing drama classes for a new school she had become the principal of. The school in question was Shaw Public School and is located in Behala. I told her about my commitments to Sanved and The Cambridge School and, to cut a long story short, she became very interested in the work I was doing with Sanved. She asked me if Sanved would be able to conduct classes at her school – classes which could bring together dance, movement and theatre components. Sohini di (Sohini Chakraborty, the director of Sanved) and I met her a few weeks ago and starting from March 16th, we will be taking regular classes at her school. Our immediate project will be choreographing a performance involving the whole school (nearly 600 children!) for their Founder’s Day programme in early April. Apart from me, there are 3 other trainers from Sanved; we have met the children and come up with a concept for the programme. In the next week, I will have to develop a costume design and also a tentative stage design plan. I’ve never worked with so many children before, but somehow, I feel that many of the questions I had regarding conceptualizing theatre classes with children will be answered in this process.

Visiting Shaw Public School was in itself a wonderful experience. The school has large, child-friendly grounds, the classrooms are very airy and well-planned. It’s incredibly heartening to see so many new schools coming up in the city that are in tune to children’s needs. When I was growing up, there were only a handful of “reputed schools”. But now, thanks to the mushrooming of several new schools that offer excellent infrastructure and teachers, parents have many more choices. So the traditionally deemed “good schools” have a number of equally good, if not better, counterparts. I think that’s one thing Calcutta can be proud of (!).

All in all, the past couple of months have seen my internship take an unexpected but perhaps even more exciting turn. When I joined Sanved I thought I’d be working largely with disadvantaged young girls and women (which I was doing and will continue to do so). I did not think I’d also work with mainstream children and feel equally challenged and engaged, even if it's a different kind of engagement and the needs that should be addressed are different. But, undoubtedly, the best part of this is that even if I'm eight months into my internship, I can still hope to enter territories untouched upon so far. There really is no greater pleasure (for me, at any rate).

ANJALI

This is my second internship with CHOICE, and this time, I am absolutely thrilled to be working with ANJALI on an independent project.

"Anjali works towards making people with psychosocial disability aware of their rights, and to make the government and civil society make the necessary shifts in attitude and practice to make these rights a reality: the right to health care and support in institutions, the right to care and support at home, the right to education and training, the right to work and earn an income; and most of all, the right to be treated with dignity as human beings, both in the institutional and social spaces." - Ratnaboli Ray, Founder.

When I started work in Feb, I was a little nervous, to say the *least*. 

But over the last two months Ratna has been endlessly supportive, and we have revamped the entire project. 

Initially, the idea was to hold an exhibition. The theme being relationships, between the user and the family, the institution and the family. Woven together through a narrative. However, we debated on how much impact such an exhibition could have. How much awareness could it raise? How many people can it actually effect? 

Over the last 2months we have *completely* revamped the project. 

So we decided to use the exhibits to design workshops around them. 

We briefly considered photo therapy. When people look at art or photos they themselves created, and review the themes, messages, and emotional content unknowingly embedded in these, they are able to learn more about their own unconscious inner life. In communicating more directly with the unconscious, visual symbols permit the natural bypassing of verbal "filters" (and accompanying rationalizations, excuses, and similar protective defenses) that automatically limit clients' direct connection with powerful feelings, thoughts, and memories.

However, this would necessarily require for users to take the photos themselves. 

The exhibition or workshops came later. 

So we have settled on the idea of the users turning photographers. Since Photo Therapy is about photography-as-communication rather than photography-as-art, no prior experience with cameras or the photographic arts is required for effective therapeutic use.

Photo Therapy involves people interacting with their own unique visual constructions of reality (using photography more as an activating verb than as a passive/reflective noun), these techniques can be particularly successful with people for whom verbal communication is physically, mentally, or emotionally limited, socio-culturally marginalized.

Therefore Photo therapy can be especially helpful, and usually very empowering, in applications with multicultural, disabled, minority-gender, special-needs, and other similarly-complex or marginalized populations -- as well as beneficial in diversity training, conflict resolution, divorce mediation, and other related fields.

 I'm speaking to the Shukla, Project Manager of the rehabilitation programme run by ANJALI in several mental health hospitals, about how and if cameras will be allowed inside. Since, ANJALI runs various other therapeutic programmes within their rehab group, it shouldn't be too difficult. 

There have been many exhibits, which document the outsider's point of view. But their world from their perspective, is far more intriguing, and gives more scope for working on an awareness exhibition. 

We have also decided to exhibit in public spaces and colleges and Universities. 

My only concern right now is to get the cameras and start the process of taking the pictures, asap. 

But that doesn't seem to be the only roadblock. Shukla,= mentioned that the authorities might frown on the idea. That's putting it mildly. 

Ratna and I have been talking, and we've decided to meet with the authorities and explain the concept to them. With emphasis on therapy. We are visiting Lumbini Park Mental Hospital on the 6th for a show they are holding for the inmates. Hoping for more progress then. 

Seagull Cafe??

Hello…..I have never done this before…well …iv been a choice intern at Seagull for four months now. I actually have been mulling over an idea that I want to throw out there and get feedback on. Shamoni would know all about this…I feel like I have been chasing my own tail so Bishan suggested that I talk bout it here and then I have all your ideas and contributions.

Ok so as I said I have been interning at seagull and I find that the events are attended pretty sparsely. At first I couldn’t figure out why this is. Then I went to Prithvi to perform and it gave me an idea. I feel that while Seagull has some fabulous events and a lot of resources to offer in terms of its collection of art, film, etc it isn’t exactly a ‘hangout’. People who are interested in a particular event attend it and leave. As a result there isn’t a group of regulars who remember what events are on and attend most of them. I thought if we could open a café here at the recourse center. Using the outdoor patio and some of the ground floor. We have quite a large space downstairs in which to hold events in the café at least twice a week. I was thinking film screenings, live music performances (although we will not have the budget to pay musicians) so maybe young musicians who need a place to showcase there talents. Also theater, dramatic monologues, poetry, discussions, if anyone has made a really good student film maybe set up a screening of it. As and when any of the Seagull contacts artists, writers, filmmakers etc are in town have a session with them.

These are my basic ideas so far. The most important thing I need to figure out is food!!....I thought it should be different from what you can get if you walk into any c.c.d. or barista.I was thinking maybe really good chaat made with like clean, hygienic water, which is slightly harder to find…I dunno…this is where you come in…please I need lots of feedback…about food events how viable do you think this idea is??????....ok….bye.

Sappho

"Frankly I wish I were dead
When she left, she wept
a great deal; she said to me,
This parting must be
endured, Sappho. I go unwillingly.
while no voices chanted
choruses without ours,
no woodlot bloomed in spring without song..."
~Sappho~

The above poem is by Sappho the legendary poet from the isle of Lesbos. One of the first documented lesbian women in literary history. Taking cue from her name, we have the Kolkata based organisation Sappho for Equality where i have recently begun my second internship. Sappho primarily works with lesbian women while its other wing which is called SFE (where i am working) allows people irrespective of their gender and sexual preference to join and help in creating the Queer space and identity without the voice being isolated. Its a great space for opening up Queer dialogues with the general heteronormative crowd.

The issue of marginalised sexualities has been plaguing the South Asian diaspora especially India with recurring incidents of homophobia related atrocities in the recent times. Research and study in this field has started a synergistic relationship with the intellectual community. Taking this idea forward Sappho has organised an All India Queer Conference called 'Queer Thoughts'

Queer Thoughts is envisaged as a two-day conference divided into four sessions. Each session would have a distinct key theme and 2/3 papers on each theme will be presented in the sessions.

The four key themes are:

1. Defining queer (how to define the term queer, who is a queer, socio-political and gender-sexual understanding of queer)
2. Living queer (living as a queer in this country, queer experiences, triumph and turbulence of queer existence)
3. Expressing queer (queer as a theme expressed though literature, film, theater, painting, sculpture or any other art form)
4. Politicizing queer (emergence of queer politics, queer as a political identity, queer rights movement and its politics)

My first assignment with Sappho will helping them in the organisation of this Conference. At the moment we are looking at abstracts and scouting for venues. After attending so many conferences this will be the first time i will be behind the scenes and the work looks grueling and interesting. I will post more later. But for now if you are interested to submit an abstract for this seminar do mail it to sappho1999@rediffmail.com or sapphoqueerconference@gmail.com

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival

The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is one event that most people in Bombay look forward to. The festival was on from the 7th to the 15th of February. The festival had gallery and pavement exhibitions, workshops, Dance performances, literary events, theatre shows, film screenings, music concerts and much more. There were artists from all over the country who contributed to the talent that was showcased. It drew a huge crowd everyday with people from all over the city and also the world. It was a major attraction for the tourists as well. There were people of all ages and some even brought along their canine family members. It was one big party where everyone was shuttling from one place to another and trying to pack in as much as possible into their schedule.

It was my first time at the festival and those few days were the most fun filled days of my time in Bombay so far. I attended a few shows as it was held mostly on weekdays. The weekend potters market was one of the many things that caught my attention. I also had the chance to see some amazing photographs by David Desouza.

There were a number of NGO stalls that were selling various items and Comet Media participated as well. We put up a stall for the last four days of the festival. Comet had a lot to offer with a wide range of fabulous books and hand made toys from around the country. The toys come from the rural areas of the country and are made by men and women in villages. The toys are not only beautifully made and a lot of fun but each one has some educational value. There are toys to develop the child's muscles, coordination and movement. Apart from the physical development there are toys related to counting and mathematics and some of the toys are just plain fun. There were a number of books as well, from story books to educational books to books related to art and craft and much more.

I had a fabulous four days. I not only got a chance to spend some time with my colleagues outside office but also got to interact with the excited customers that visited our stall. We were always busy either selling something or entertaining not only children but their parents as well. By the end of it we were all exhausted but had enough energy to share some personal jokes about some people we came across and of course treat ourselves to all the delicious food around.

In Retrospect

I completed my internship with CHOICE a little over two weeks ago. The experience is still fresh in my mind though. Writing this from a foreign land where I'm still adjusting to language, people, timings, and a new kind of liberation, its comforting to reflect on the small, intimate space of the Seagull office, and the experience I got there. Thinking back, it seems to be like a stepping-stone to the place I'm at now, because my work at Seagull too demanded some adjustments. 

You could say I was computer-illiterate when I joined Seagull. My skills were limited to facebook and e-mailing, and I was quite content nestled in my limitations. A few weeks into my internship however, I was forced out of my comfortable 'shell'. I admit I was quite terrified when told to resize images, create price-lists, scan photographs and handle software that was completely foreign to me. Although I doubt that I'll need these in the immediate future, I thank Megha sincerely for waking me up!

Working on the missing film lists was a pleasure. While browsing the web for films that were worth obtaining for the Seagull library, I took every opportunity to discover even the most trivial detail about a particular director or film. Definitely a strange activity to get a kick out of I know, but for me it was pure enjoyment. 

Reporting on the Peaceworks workshops gave me a chance to do one of the things I love, which is to write. I kept in mind of course that these were personal accounts, and that I needed to critique. An adjustment was made there too. I was also exposed to schools very different from the one I went to, and the ways in which different students in the same age group think and act. At several moments, I was also doubtful about how I should act with them. Adjustment. 

And of course my limits of patience were also tested! I couldn't have expected to avoid the hard part of being an intern- doing the 'dirty work'! Which meant adding or deleting names to the mailing database, clearing out old old files and boxes and doing tedious proof readings. For this too I am grateful, because I realized that work was work, whether small or big, and that it all contributed to the finished picture. 

My picture is complete. For now. But a word about my colleagues before I end- their personalities ensured that a day at work was never boring! And they were ever so patient with me even on days when I was extra slow! It was great working at Seagull. I'll stay posted!

The journey begins..

I am currently working at Comet Media in Bombay. Landing my second internship made me feel a lot more confident and positive about everything. I had already spent some time in Bombay during my last internship but something is different this time.

My first week at Comet Media was pretty exciting. I have a group of extremely friendly colleagues and a very excited and energetic boss. Its literally been a funny adventure from the first day of work. After discovering that my boss was in the same college as my mother and aunt, we've had a number of things to chat about during the lunch and tea breaks.

Everyone at office took time off to walk me through all the projects that they are involved in. I am currently involved in the documentation of a media workshop that is helping women in the poorer sections of society to take up film making. The workshop had started in January and will be on till the end of this month. I will be documenting the editing workshop that will be taking place in the next couple of weeks.

Comet Media will also be participating in the Kala Ghoda Festival at the end of this week. We're busy getting our products ready for the stall.

Poulomi

My Choice Internship-an Epilogue of Sorts :)

Having finished six months as a Choice Intern, I think it is only natural that my final blogpost (as a Choice Intern for Writeherewritenow)will be an overview of whatever I have worked on in the past six months and the invaluable experience that this internship has given me.

I had first read about Choice on a poster that was put up at my University ( Jadavpur University) and I remember being fascinated by the Project at once. After rushing home, I dispatched an application immediately. Bishan got in touch with me promptly and asked me to come over and meet him at Seagull's Circus Avenue office.

The wonderful thing about the Choice internship is that it allows a tremendous amount of flexibility. For instance, when interns do apply, they are asked to list their interests and their interests are matched with an organisation that they may wish to work for. I had dabbled with the idea of working with folk musicians and my interests were listed as writing and Music. Because it was term time, I could not possibly spend my time talking to folk musicians and simultaneously learn their craft because it would mean that I would not be able to balance my academics with my internship. Instead, I decided to opt for my other love-my love for writing.

I've been fond of writing ever since I've been a kid. When I heard about Writeherewritenow from Bishan, I was really excited. I was thinking of starting out with my Individual Project (which would mean me designing the module entirely on my own, only to be guided by my mentor)but after much brainstorming, Bishan and I decided that it would be a good idea to do an internship before embarking on an Individual Project.

I met Megha first. Megha invited me to come and watch a Writeherewritenow workshop before I made my mind up about the internship. My first " unofficial" workshop had Richa telling the children how to script superheroes. One little child, Chirayu, all of eight, gingerly came up to me and asked me how to spell glasses ( His superhero was Harry Potter). Chirayu then decided that 'g' just didn't look nice with a tail, so he decided to do away with it. Finally, there was only a 'c' left.

Little had I known then that I would end my six month internship with Many such Memories. During my six months as a Choice Intern, I was expected to help market the site, help design the workshop modules, conduct a few workshops, handle press and publicity for the website, jot down the minutes of every workshop that was held and assist in conducting the workshops.

Some very interesting ideas were experimented with during the course of my Internship. There was the translation workshop, where children were given a piece in English and they could translate it either into Hindi or Bangla. Then they were given a piece either in Bangla or Hindi and asked to do the same. Then there was a Doodle and Decipher workshop where the children were given themes and were asked to draw. Based on the illustration, they were asked to write a story.

Finally, it was a great pleasure to work with a wonderful and committed team and I'm glad that I decided to work with WHWN.

Bal Vividha 2008

STUDENT WORKSHOPS: 

Very enthusiastic Rang Manch participants: 

Teacher's Workshops:  

Events and Performances:

More Colors:

Student's Workshop:  

Looking around: 

Ah! Presents! And certificates:

The culmination of the theatre workshop for kids:

Rang Manch:

A Children's workshop in progress:

Rang Manch Chronicles:

Colloquium: 

Rang Manch:

Teacher's Workshop:

IC:

Peformances:

The colors corner was a real hit:

Interactive Corner (colors): 

Children at the fair:

 The Gate: