Classes Six, Seven and Eight of Modern High School For Girls, Kolkata
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Journal Writing Workshop at Modern High School For Girls
In my first post as a Choice Intern, I had discussed the importance of the Arts and the concept of Arts as Therapy. The idea originated from " The Diary of Anne Frank"- a diary read and acknowledged the world over. Anne Frank was only thirteen when she began to write and she wrote during times of war. As an adolescent,she had to come to terms with internal strife while also negotiating her way through the Holocaust.
The group of children we addressed at Modern High School for Girls today were from classes six,seven and eight.
The session started with Megha telling the children about conflict and how it is important to explore one's feelings and to put those thoughts down on paper. One child said that the diary was like a "friend" to her, while another thought it was important to write a diary because it helped her to implement the vocabulary that she had acquired from her favourite books. Megha went on to tell the children that in interpersonal human relationships, a certain degree of expectation is inevitable. However, as far as Diary Writing is concerned, a diary can be a non-judgemental friend.
Richa took over from here and told the children to write about themselves. She asked them to introduce themselves on paper, but in an "unusual" manner, assuring them that they would not have to read out anything that they had written. The next exercise was called the "cheering up" exercise where the children had to list five things that made them happy, sharing any two of the five things if they chose to do so. The next exercise involved writing about fear and memories of humiliation.
The idea of this Workshop was to help children put down their thoughts down on paper and delve into the process of self-discovery.
The group of children we addressed at Modern High School for Girls today were from classes six,seven and eight.
The session started with Megha telling the children about conflict and how it is important to explore one's feelings and to put those thoughts down on paper. One child said that the diary was like a "friend" to her, while another thought it was important to write a diary because it helped her to implement the vocabulary that she had acquired from her favourite books. Megha went on to tell the children that in interpersonal human relationships, a certain degree of expectation is inevitable. However, as far as Diary Writing is concerned, a diary can be a non-judgemental friend.
Richa took over from here and told the children to write about themselves. She asked them to introduce themselves on paper, but in an "unusual" manner, assuring them that they would not have to read out anything that they had written. The next exercise was called the "cheering up" exercise where the children had to list five things that made them happy, sharing any two of the five things if they chose to do so. The next exercise involved writing about fear and memories of humiliation.
The idea of this Workshop was to help children put down their thoughts down on paper and delve into the process of self-discovery.
Reeti Roy
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Translation Workshop
Thinking hard...
Translations Galore...
Me looking flummoxed while the kids are busy at workWriteherewritenow 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. Initially,the Disha children and The Writeherewritenow members (and the new children who attended the workshop for the first time) sat separately,but as they were put in groups of three they realised that they would have to work together and began to interact with one another.
Our first creative endeavour of the morning was a lighthearted one-we gave them words like Nyaka,Paka,Dhishum Dhishum,Chulbuli and Whatever to convert into different languages.We called this the Ice breaker round.
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,we gave handouts of 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 who 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.
Reeti Roy
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. Initially,the Disha children and The Writeherewritenow members (and the new children who attended the workshop for the first time) sat separately,but as they were put in groups of three they realised that they would have to work together and began to interact with one another.
Our first creative endeavour of the morning was a lighthearted one-we gave them words like Nyaka,Paka,Dhishum Dhishum,Chulbuli and Whatever to convert into different languages.We called this the Ice breaker round.
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,we gave handouts of 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 who 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.
Reeti Roy
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
WritehereWritenow will be conducting a workshop on Translation on the 27th of July.The workshop will take place at Disha Foundation, Kolkata and will have Disha children from classes 6, 7 and 8 participating in this workshop. Since this is a workshop for our members, we expect a lot of our members to be there as well. I am really excited about the tie-up between Disha and Writeherewritenow.
I went to Disha foundation today and met Ms Neena Singh and Ms Ranjana Roy. They're delightful people and I was amazed at the way they conducted themselves and took care of the children.They're truly inspirational.
Reeti Roy
I went to Disha foundation today and met Ms Neena Singh and Ms Ranjana Roy. They're delightful people and I was amazed at the way they conducted themselves and took care of the children.They're truly inspirational.
Reeti Roy
Sunday, June 22, 2008
22.6.2008
Today was our last session at the Oxford Bookstore. Richa discussed Story Starters (everytime she discusses A story starter or a plot setting or a monologue or whatever, I itch to write something myself. Richa, where were you when I was twelve?)
Anyway, Richa started off with talking about the "hook" to a story- a story needs to begin in a way that the reader wants to know more. In other words, the story must be gripping and ensnare the reader.
Richa talked about ideas and how one is always influenced by the television and the newspapers and how incidents can act as "triggers" to our thought process. "The best way to learn is to eavesdrop on a conversation" she said. "For instance, when you're on a bus and you hear people talking amongst themselves and for some reason,you cannot follow the entire conversation, that is where your imagination comes into play."
Then Richa made the kids write down the word "red" and asked them to jot down anything that came to their heads. One little boy quipped, "But does the hook have to tell the rest of the story?" when Richa explained that "The hook element in the story is extremely important but it does not have to do with the central theme of the story. The fact that it is connected to the story is sufficient."
Then she made the kids write down a story with lines Beginning with Fortunately and Unfortunately and in my opinion, some of the kids did a fantastic job. I'll be putting them up on the site as well, so those of you that are interested and go and have a look.
The last exercise involved the children writing a story with the name of a place, the name of some kind of food, the name of an Author, the name of a Song, the name of a Car and a dialogue.
All the exercises were group activities and the session which began at 4 p.m ended at 6 p.m.
There are going to be more Workshops so please do keep checking this space. Members will be mailed as and when workshops are held.
Reeti Roy
Anyway, Richa started off with talking about the "hook" to a story- a story needs to begin in a way that the reader wants to know more. In other words, the story must be gripping and ensnare the reader.
Richa talked about ideas and how one is always influenced by the television and the newspapers and how incidents can act as "triggers" to our thought process. "The best way to learn is to eavesdrop on a conversation" she said. "For instance, when you're on a bus and you hear people talking amongst themselves and for some reason,you cannot follow the entire conversation, that is where your imagination comes into play."
Then Richa made the kids write down the word "red" and asked them to jot down anything that came to their heads. One little boy quipped, "But does the hook have to tell the rest of the story?" when Richa explained that "The hook element in the story is extremely important but it does not have to do with the central theme of the story. The fact that it is connected to the story is sufficient."
Then she made the kids write down a story with lines Beginning with Fortunately and Unfortunately and in my opinion, some of the kids did a fantastic job. I'll be putting them up on the site as well, so those of you that are interested and go and have a look.
The last exercise involved the children writing a story with the name of a place, the name of some kind of food, the name of an Author, the name of a Song, the name of a Car and a dialogue.
All the exercises were group activities and the session which began at 4 p.m ended at 6 p.m.
There are going to be more Workshops so please do keep checking this space. Members will be mailed as and when workshops are held.
Reeti Roy
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