Translation Workshop

Thinking hard...

Translations Galore...

Me looking flummoxed while the kids are busy at work

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. 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

Article

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070424/asp/calcutta/story_7689168.asp

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

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

25.5.2008

Today was my first day at work. As a part of Seagull's Youth Leadership Programme, Choice, Bishan and I had been discussing the possible list of organisations that I might have been able to work with, given that my focus was Creative Writing. After a few sessions of brainstorming, Megha's name cropped up.

Bishan informed me that Megha and Richa were looking for an intern for their Creative Writing Organisation, WritehereWritenow.

I went to meet Megha at Seagull's resource centre last week and after chatting for a bit, she asked me if I could come to Oxford Bookstore Junior, where WritehereWriteNow was conducting a workshop next week.

Today,as I walked into Oxford bookstore, I met Megha and Richa. "Is that Reeti?" she asked me, to which I replied in the affirmative. (I have a niggling suspicion that my new bright red spectacles made me unrecogniseable). Megha introduced me to Richa and then the two of them asked me whether I over ate (Yes,OF COURSE!!!) and whether I was left-handed (which I am!). I am truly delighted and honoured to be working with fellow lefties and fellow over-eaters.I'm sure it's going to be fantastic working with you :)

At around four-thirty, I noticed that there were children trickling in,one by one, with their parents. Most of them were members of WritehereWriteNow and there were two cute kids from Class II. Most of the kids were from classes IV, V and VI.

The theme for the Workshop was "Create your Own Superhero". Richa asked everyone if they read comics that had superheroes. One of the kids remarked that he doesn't like "the animated form", which possibly means that he likes fleshed out, human characters to portray Superheroes. They would have to write a story on how their Superheroes could combat the Villain-the monstrous Big Bad Bookworm.

Richa asked all the kids to come up with a Bio Data (otherwise called a Backstory). Each child would create a sort of CV for his/her character and give him/her a Real Name, a Real Age, a Superhero Name, a real Job, his greatest human strength, his greatest human weakness,his Superhero strength, his Superhero weakness, his worst memory as a human being (scars from his childhood, etcetera) and his Supercharacter, among other things.

Farham and Chirayu talked about Don and Krissh, their superheroes (Chirayu was sincerely asking me for the spelling of 'sunglasses' and 'acting' and he's an awfully cute kid) while Garima and Ruchira talked about Jayman and Johnnyman. All of the children will be putting up their superhero stories on The Website.

The workshop ended with Megha handing out bookmarks and registration forms and talking to the Children about WritehereWritenow.

At WritehereWritenow, we encourage children to write stories,poems and articles as well as read other children's writings. Information about the workshops are also posted on the Website.

The next Workshop is scheduled to be held at Oxford Bookstore (Junior) on the 8th of this month.

As I sign off, let me just say that I'm delighted to be on board and I look forward to my stint here at WritehereWritenow.

I've always been fond of writing myself and the tie-up of writing and Social Concerns is one that appeals to me immensely. I'll also be putting up the photographs taken during the course of the workshop, as soon as possible.

Reeti Roy

Adieu - 27.04.08

The second Oxford Junior workshop started off ominously with absolutely no registrations! However, we were soon flooded with young children, eager to participate.
This workshop was based entirely on character development. So, after a brief introduction to the site by Megha, Richa began the session by talking about the importance of developing a character in a story. Her favourite example, and indeed a favourite for most children, Harry Potter of course, helped everyone understand the true need for making a character real to the reader.
It wasn't long before Richa was telling the participants a story of a girl, who meets with an accident, and when rushed to the hospital, the following are found in her pockets - a little toy doll, one earring, a couple of buttons, a pendant and a rose.The participants, who were sitting in pairs, were asked to describe the girl. They, then, took turns reading out their descriptions. And weren't they fascinating? Though everyone was given the same objects, the character was vastly different depending on the perception of the group that had developed the character.The next activity required all the participants to write the story of Paula, a woman who visited a certain place frequently. The place in question was contained in postcards that each group was given. No two postcards were the same. All the participants were asked to write about Paula, her life, and the reasons for her frequent visits to this particular place.
When the groups, now in new pairs than in the earlier activity, read out their stories, we were amazed at the diverse descriptions they had. Paula was sometimes rich, sometimes poor; for some she was a young teenager, for others, she was an old woman; some saw her as lonely, others, social and vivacious.The final activity required the participants to break off into age-groups but to work individually. Richa told them the story of a man, lost, disoriented, completely uncommunicative; found roaming on Park Street by a police officer who had no choice but to deduce the man's character by the contents of his bag - 3 business cards, a picture of a child, a torch, Kingfisher airline headphones, a key and a couple of parking tickets.The participants went about their task of "helping" the policeman identify the man very seriously. This activity took the longest amount of time, and Richa was generous with it, as well. Once everyone had finished writing, they took turns reading out their stories to each other.
The session was enthralling and exciting and was a wonderful farewell for Mon and myself, who will not be returning to WriteHereWriteNow after today.
We wish to thank Megha and Richa, for giving us this opportunity to write an Oscar speech. It has been a pleasure working in WHWN (as we like to call it).
To all our members, farewell, and thank you for the memories.
Best of luck for the future. Live long and prosper.

19.04.08

After weeks of talks, WriteHereWriteNow's Saturday Club workshop was underway. We had a grand total of about 40 children attending.
The workshop was held at the usual time, 4pm in the Phoenix hall. Mon and I had reached the Club early and Megha arrived shortly after, laden with a gigantic bag full of WriteHereWriteNow folders. Richa was next to arrive, exhausted and just a little peeved at not finding any parking space for her car.
However, we had a hall to arrange and we got to the task as quickly as possible. While Megha sorted out where the advertising banners and the WriteHereWriteNow banner should be kept, Richa, Mon and I went about placing the folders on the tables.
The children soon arrived and by 4:20 we were ready to begin. All the children were divided into age-groups of 3 or 4.
After an introductory speech from Mrs. Kapoor, Richa gave the children their first task for the evening - write a short paragraph on everything you see around you. Most of the children spoke about the dreary walls, the blue curtains, the young teachers around them and the people sitting at the back. They had a way with words.
Then we got down to the main activity. The children were asked to jot down points on all the things they could see.
They were then asked to jot down points on everything they could hear. There was some controversy over whether the chatter of fellow table-mates should be included in this section. However, Mon managed to clear their doubts.
The sensation of Smell elicited excited responses due to the food at the side of the hall.Touch followed next. There was plenty of banging on tables and pulling of hair during this segment as everybody searched for that elusive word to explain how exactly they felt.
The last of the senses was Taste. Richa was at her grossest best here, asking all the children to fill their mouths with saliva and write down what they could taste. All the children took this task very seriously. One child even tasted ink to add variety to his list while others turned to the more conventional lip-gloss for variety.
The children were then asked to write a paragraph describing themselves in the Phoenix hall while incorporating all their points. Several students then stood up to read out their paragraphs. Once again, their command over the language was impressive.
For the next activity, each table was given a plate of fruits. Each child was asked to pick the fruit of their choice and write a brief description of the fruit, incorporating the use of all five senses.
When it came to taste, it was up to the four defenders of language to do the dirty-work. The situation was further complicated by the fact that not all the fruits had been washed! We had to be extra careful while cutting the fruits so as to avoid the peel.After most of the children had devoured their fruits, they got down to the serious work of describing the fruit.
The final activity required children of different fruit-groups to stand up and describe their fruit. This session was entertaining and certainly left one with a healthy appetite.
And not a moment too soon. After a brief introduction to the site and a vote of thanks, the children and the four of us headed towards the snack bar.
The evening was enjoyable and educational, for all concerned.