Window To Khulla Manch

The Pravah Jaipur Initiative is currently mobilizing college youth around Jaipur to involve in our Khula Manch youth group and the urban volunteering program. For the same we are planning to hold a two-day unpaid workshop to orient nominated participants into this program. The sessions will educate students on a wide range of social issues and attempt to engage them in active citizenship and participating in positive social change. In the process the participants will also develop their own self confidence and communication and teamwork skills. The sessions will specifically focus on the theme of Stereotypes and Identity, and will seek to challenge participants’ existing assumptions about society while motivating them to create and implement their own solutions to social problems.

The workshop will be held from 9^th to 10^th of October, from 9 am to 6 pm. This will be a non- residential, day long workshop of young people roughly between the ages of 18- 22 years. The venue will be notified after the confirmation. We are seeking up to ten nominations from each area college of students interesting in participating in this program. We request that nominations are submitted by October 6^th. Nominations can be submitted to richa.sharma@pravah.org or by phone at 141-4030356 or 9983762103

In case of any queries or clarifications, please feel free to get in touch with us directly, either by phone or email. Our address is C-96, Jagraj marg, Bapu Nagar, Jaipur.

Fun & Masti with Lots of learning

Ojasi Mehta shared her experience of Open capacity building workshop (4^th-8^th may 2010)

Fun & Masti with Lots of learning -

Workshops , camps , festivals , programs always spread positive energy around the people who attend them. For five days Jawahar Kala Kendra was glittering with positive vibes. I could feel a change from first day to last day . It was as if scattered pieces are slowly coming together . There was so much diversity of creativity in the workshop , everyone was very creative as well as hungry for knowledge and skills.

I was personally interested in all three skills which were being taught there – Comics , Theatre & Film making . Of course , film-making attracts a lot but I knew right now I needed to learn a simple yet an effective skill which I can use through my creativity and teach others too .. so , Comics was for me and I am so happy that ,I chose it (-kabila dance)

Well… well… well… before taking you into the sessions which we had of our skill , I would like to show you some glimpses of outside fun which we had through different games . On first day , due to hesitation lots of people could not come out of their shell to make new friends – I was also one of them , I was stick to my old friend only but we played a game where you will have to choose randomly anyone and Know him/her in two minutes… it was very interesting I made two friends there only. After this “silsila” of games was on and we enjoyed all the games , new & interesting. These games were called “energizers” and they boosted our energy and spiced our Fun. Wait – let me tell you the very first “Value” of Pravah, who organized the workshop – Fun with Learning. And exactly five days we didn’t realize – whether we are having Fun in Learning or Learning in Fun… but whatever it was – it was Awesome. Oh! did I tell you that though we were physically in Jaipur but we roamed around the whole world through our superb energizers. One of the very different experience was “Kabila” . The whole group of 30-35 people were asked to form a “kabila” , give it a name , prepare its song and dance. The name of our kabila was – JIM HAKUBA TAM TAM TORA TORA SA SA … J So we did it successfully – and Guess what --- we actually looked like the “Kabila” and it seemed if today we are thrown in the jungles of Andaman we will make a great original “Kabila”.. ahh… the word “original” reminded me of something—Aasif sir (theatre guru) gave me a name – O.C. – Original copy… see its an example ! we lived like a family – when we were together no one was from theatre , comics or film making – we all were One – one of the motto of Pravah – “Me to We”… and of course it didn't come on the very first day but it was a gradual journey.

Now have a look at our inside sessions –It was really great , we got to know that we are not learning simple comics but its called – Grassroot comics . A story told by pictures is called comics and when this comics is made on some important issues and problems of layman its called Grassroot comics . I loved it because anyone can make it with very few things – a black sketch pen and 2 A4 size papers . Well… we learnt so much in 4 days – to make cartoons , give special effects , give a title to comics and so on… But with learning we had lots of fun… for example – We had to bear Dilip’s songs and queries. Yash and Rajesh irritated me a lot. We chatted on different topics.. shared our experiences…Our trainer Pankaj bhaiya and Abhishek bhaiya were very friendly … I always tried to call them “sir” but I could never because they never treated us like students… they encouraged a lot and taught us to make cartoons in very funny way J

Well … I don’t know much about the inside stories of other sessions but as everyday in the morning we recalled last day’s experiences, I had some idea on the basis of it which I will tell you , the tit-bits of other sessions – Theatre learners learnt small skills of theatre and I could see on Finale how they took out the hidden actor in themselves. Though everyone complained that five days is a very short period to learn such art but they still make something out of it . Same with the film making students – 5 days is a very small period … but as they told us they enjoyed the time , got familiar with camera and… they learnt “How to think…” because their trainer Akshay Bhaiya would ask them to “think..” and disappear for several minutes …J Our all trainers were very friendly and enjoyed with us , they actively took part in all games… so the whole atmosphere was so strongly Positive with Creativity , Fun & Learning…

We not only learnt the skills we chose but also about “Active Citizenship” . We were shown a documentary also – Dark Zone – on water problem , made by Rakesh Gogna. Thus we did so many things in four days , I am not able to mention all of them here. Last day we went into a “Kachhi Basti” and there we interacted with people , especially kids. It was an another different experience.

Now I am just waiting for the next workshop by Pravah… Only by Pravah because I know the way they made learning Fun and taught Active citizenship as well as the chosen skill very friendly … hardly any other group/NGO can do…

So---- We Rock !!!!

Cheers!

The Pravah Jaipur Initiative in collaboration with World Comics India, Drishti Media Collective,Muskaan Road Safety foundation and Pahal Samajik karya evam shodh sansthan is organising a 5 day capacity building workshop for young people in and around Jaipur focussing on using creative arts for communication.

The workshop will help the young people learn the skills of Theatre (specifically Theatre of the Oppressed),Grassroot comics and film making to communicate social issues. In the process the participants will also develop their own self confidence and communication and teamwork skills.

The participants do not need to know how to draw or act for these workshops.

The workshop will be held from 4th to 8th of May. This will be a non- residential, day long workshop or young people roughly between the ages of 16- 26 years.

We would like to invite you to nominate at least two people to attend this workshop from your organisation.

Please do let us know if you would be interested in this in the next few days and send us the filled registration form that we are attaching with this mail.

The last date for registration is the 25th April 2010. Participants are welcome to send the forms post the deadline too, but will be considered only if there is space.

Please note that a basic registration fee of Rs. 250 for theatre, comics and Rs 500 for film making will be charged to help us cover part of the costs.

In case you cannot pay the full amount you can also get in touch with us for support. We would also like to request your support in helping us reach out to as many young people in the city as is possible.

We would really appreciate any help that you can give in this regards. Please do circulate this mail widely.

In case of any queries or clarifications, please feel free to get in touch with us at the following no 141-4030356 or 9680138263/ 9983762103 Our Address: C-96, Jagraj marg, Bapu Nagar, Jaipur.

Looking forward to a positive response.

With warmest regards

PJI Team

First ever "Comics & Theatre" Workshop May 2008

Idea Behind the Workshop

Pravah Jaipur Initiative has been in the process of building its presence in Jaipur. Our past experiences reflected that the work that we are doing, is not so common in Jaipur Accessing young people thus becomes difficult unless done through institutions. At the same time, Institutions may have their own limitations in terms of space, time and what should be the end product. In order to jumpstart the initiative it was also necessary to use the summer breaks of the various institutions.


Added to this we felt that many young people in the state are passionate about creative arts like theatre and drawing but have not been able to access them. These art forms and creative interactive methodologies like those of theatre and Comics play a huge role in helping young people to unleash their creativity, discover new engaging tools of communication and through that process get to know themselves better, gain confidence and acquire and enhance the ability to communicate their feelings, thoughts and passions clearly. Experiences such as Capacity building workshops on Theatre and Comics, would enable them to build their understanding of working together and of social issues. The skill of communication that they would learn would also help them inspire others to join and then stay engaged as they together strive for social justice.

With this context in mind, Pravah Jaipur Initiative along with Jan Kala Sahitya Manch Sanstha World Comics India, Muskaan and Jawahar Kala Kendra organised the Capacity building through Theatre and Comics Workshop in May provide young people with a space to discover the magic within and to the skills to share it.


Vision & Objective of the Workshop

• It was for young people to gain confidence and develop new skills through creative arts to engage with social issues
• By the end of the workshop the participants would demonstrate the learnt skills of comics and theatre and an increased level of confidence through the presentation of their creations
• By the end of the workshop a core group of at least 5 young people will emerge, who will volunteer to associate with the Pravah Jaipur Initiative
• As an outcome of the workshop at least one strategy around how the career orientation of young people and active citizenship agenda of Pravah can be brought together in a win- win way

About our partners for this workshop 


World Comics India (WCI) is collective of cartoonists, media persons and grassroots activists. WCI promotes comics as a communication tool and as mode of self-expression in remote and difficult areas South Asia and other countries.


Please visit  www.worlcomicsindia.com for more information.


Jan Kala Sahitya Manch Sanstha 'JKSMS is a non-Governmental and non-profit making social organization working for the Social development - rehabilitation - protection and empowerment of women, children and deprived class of society.The organization organization founded in the year 1983 by social activists who were devoted and committed to promoting change in society and social Justice.


Please visit www.jksms.org for more information.

Jawahar Kala Kendra JKK is an arts and culture centre in Jaipur. Known for its beautiful architecture and support that it gives to artists both established and emerging, it is one of the most popular venues for workshops and performances.

Muskaan is an organisation which works on road safety in Jaipur. Muskaan collaborates with schools, colleges and the traffic police to increase awareness and therefore improve road safety in the city. 

Please visit www.muskaanonroad.org for more information

Highlights from First Workshop from 5-8 May 2008

32 participants came for the 4 day Capacity Building through Theatre and Comics workshop from 5^th to 8^th May 2008.  Coming from all across Rajasthan and with an age range of 14 to 28 years the group was very diverse, also in terms of gender, rural- urban, strata and levels of confidence. Though officially slated to be between 10- and 5 pm, the workshop for the most part started by 9:30am and ended close to 7 pm, due to the enthusiasm of the participants.

The energy of the participants, the facilitators, and whoever else decided to drop by really carried the entire workshop through. For the first three days the participants got to know each other and learn the skills of Theatre of the Oppressed and Grassroot Comics. The last day was the field check day, when all the participants took their plays and comics to the Jawahar Nagar Kachhi Basti (Tila no. 5).

 

The plays were on Gender discrimination and Domestic Violence and the Comics on issues like caste discrimination, Road safety, Corporal punishment in Education eve teasing, exploitation of farmers, and inspiring young people to speak up in the panchayats or anywhere else for their rights. All of these were very well received by the people. Little children and elderly women all took on the role of the Oppressed women in the plays to show how the situation could be improved. For most of the people this was the first time that they had ever visited a basti, and was a huge and sudden reality check.

 

All the participants were very inspired and felt that they had seen a huge increase in their confidence level and realized that they were connected with social issues and needed to understand them better and work on them. They all wanted to form a youth group. The Jaipur based participants would be the more active core group for this youth group

The group was officially launched in the evening during a formal event organized and compared by the volunteers themselves. The function attended by at least 80 people received very good feedback, and was a great space for many a skeptical parent to see what their children were involved in.