20th October 2010

The Batik workshop was one of the most creative and fun workshops I have attended so far. The purpose of it was to learn a new skill that I could use for my artwork in the future. On the weekend, a group of students gathered in the home science lab for a two day crash course in tie-dying and batik techniques, taught by one of the craftsmen here in Chennai. The end result was an array of assorted colours and intriguing designs.

The first day was both a learning process and individual work time. We were first taught the process of tie-dying; different types of ink are mixed in water with various chemicals which change the colour of the cloth. We were then taught a few basic patterns such as stars, stripes, circles and how to dye more than one colour. I chose to do an orange and green squared pattern. I loved the technique and the spontaneous style of our final pieces; I definitely feel I could use it in art as part of one of my other works.

On the second day, we were taught the process of batik dying, by using wax to stop ink going through the cloth and thus forming a non-dyed pattern. This was a group activity; in my group I drew the initial design with the pen used to apply wax. It was a lot of fun, but also required a great deal of concentration in order to create the fine lines that followed the initial chalk outlines drawn. I think I did quite well with the wax pen. Later we also brushed wax on when we dyed two colours. After I had finished helping my own group, I helped a few of the other groups with their work, and washed some of the cloth pieces out for them to be dried outside.

The batik workshop taught me a very unique skill that suits my own interests, as well as being useful in my future art projects. It also allowed me to share my skills with others around me as I contributed my ideas and helped others. Overall, I have achieved my initial goal of learning a new creative process to expand my artistic skills and use in my artwork. 

9 September 2010

Earlier this year, I took on the exhilarating challenge of teaching English, with the help of my classmate, to two young boys from a local school here in Chennai. We met every Saturday, and each week we created lesson plans, gathered children’s books to read with them, and found grammar games on the internet for them to play.

Their enthusiasm to learn was motivating for me, and their simple delight at using computers and white boards was very humbling. One of my most fond memories was playing virtual basketball with Dundi whilst trying to teach him verbs and nouns. His excitement at scoring points when he answered correctly was infectious, and I felt so much happiness sitting next to him and cheering him on. By the end, it was with a sad reluctance that I let myself coax him away from the computer at the end of class.

My experience interacting with the joyful pair gave me a deep sense of consideration and understanding of their lives, as I learned to recognise and utilise our differences. For instance, I spent a lesson creating stories with them only to realise that their idea of a superhero was far from the typical Spiderman and Batman that I was accustomed to, but instead it was their favourite actor. I was so proud when Dundi created his story of the fight between Spiderman and his favourite actor, complete with caricatures that he drew on the board.

Through Dundi and Mani I began to identify my own limitations such as my inability to speak their language whilst they struggled to learn mine. I realised that teaching is most importantly a two-way process of understanding and learning. I feel like I took more away from them than they did from me.

Above all of this though, our encounters gave me something special to look forward to each week, as well as many memorable moments to cherish. 

10 August 2010

A few days ago, I visited the PVRao orphanage and helped as an assistant teacher with the boys at the school. They were a very friendly bunch of kids and I enjoyed my time there; the only downfall was that I couldn't speak the language and therefore found it hard to communicate. However I felt that my presence was encouraging for them. I read out a story and played a game with the boys and I definitely enjoyed their company. I hope to visit again soon and see if its possible to become a permanent volunteer. 

5 August 2010

The theatre workshop was a 24 class course that the seven of us who make up the IB2 undertook over the course of year 1 and 2. During the course, we began learning the history of theatre, what constitutes acting, voice modulation, stick-fighting, confidence on stage, and finally how to act. Mr. Bala, our theatre mentor, gave us exercises and introduced us to other professionals in the theatre field, in order to help us learn the essentials of acting and theatre. The culmination of the workshop was to be a play, scripted, directed and produced by the seven of us. Mr. Bala also taught us about stage lighting, set designs, costumes, and all the other components involved in creating a play.

My personal aims when I started the course were to try and gain more confidence in front of an audience, as well as learning how to act. Acting was definitely a new skill that I would be acquiring, one that I was a little apprehensive about in the beginning. However, I really enjoyed the entire learning process, and discovered I was more capable than I’d initially thought. I definitely feel I’ve increased my awareness of areas I can grow.

One of my favourite classes involved Mr. Bala teaching us how to combat using sticks, a traditional method of fighting. This was something I feel I might continue further in the future. We were all also given the chance to interact with other eminent people from the Chennai theatre field, who talked to us, encouraged us, and also gave us their feedback. Others also helped us with voice modulation and stage speaking, making our final play much more professional. The experiences gave us all the chance to be responsible, and prove that we could handle it, as well as prove what we were all capable of.

Most of the classes involved individual learning and development; however, we needed to support and encourage each other all the way, to help people gain the confidence necessary to bring out their best. The final play though, involved a huge team effort, as well as discovery of each other. Firstly, for the final play, each of us decided an area that we would be in charge of. I was in charge of writing the play script and coming up with the initial idea. We also had a director, set designer, costume and prop designer as well as light and sound managers.

Writing the play script gave me the opportunity to show my writing capabilities. It was also a challenge, as I’d never even tried to write a play before, and I had a very short time span to do it. It was a success though, and I was glad to have been able to show some of my skills with confidence. I also learned that some of my other classmates were highly capable in other areas. When the entire play came together, with lights music et all on the final day, all of us were, on a level, surprised at what we’d actually managed to achieve. I think we all began to appreciate each other’s talents a lot more afterwards, but more than that appreciate how well we worked as a team.

I feel this was a course where I was able to show a lot of perseverance and commitment, as it was something I enjoyed doing. I felt a strong desire to succeed, and not give up when we faced difficulties. This truly did pay off for all of us. Success in our final play was one of the most rewarding experiences of our course, and something we all wish we could do again. 

20th June 2010

Solid Waste Management was the first CAS activity I undertook, and one of the most challenging. We performed SWM as a group, the seven of us who were in the first IB year of school. It was one of the first times we really had to learn how to work as a group.

We began SWM by cleaning the school fields. In one of our first sessions, we walked around the field, picking up rubbish. Afterwards, we began the huge process of raking and segregating plastics from a giant pile of rubbish that had been dumped at the back of our school. Each Saturday, when we had SWM, we carried buckets, rakes and shovels to the back of the field. It was tough work, especially in the hot sun, and involved a lot of effort from all of us.

The aim was to make manure from the decomposition of leaves that had piled up in a corner of the field, as well as make our school a more environmentally friendly, clean place. We were successful in our goal; by the end, we’d managed to make a lot of manure and sell it, the money contributing to our CAS savings which would later be donated to charity. We also gained the technical knowledge of the process. More than actually making the manure and doing SWM, all the hard work we put into it made me much more conscious of my surroundings. We spent painstaking hours picking up plastics and raking leaves, surrounded by bugs. The bugs by themselves were hard to get used to, yet we were persistent, and didn’t give up.

This was our first activity working as a group, when we had yet to get to know each other well. Working as a group became an integral part of the task. I feel we were able to raise each other’s motivation levels, and the overall sense of team spirit, quite well. We learned how to split tasks and work more efficiently; one of us would rake, whilst two would be in charge of collecting the leaves and putting them in the bins and someone else might be in charge of collecting water. This way, we became a lot more sensitive to each other’s needs, by understanding when others might need a break, or when someone was too tired to do a certain task.

The biggest difficulty we faced as the immensity of our task. There were only seven of us, yet the pile of rubbish seemed to be endlessly large. At times, it felt like our task was too big, and it wasn’t going anywhere; but once we’d finished a day’s work, and realised just how much we had accomplished, we all felt our work was worthwhile.

7th June 2010

Our first jewellery making session ended with beads scattered across the floor, strings knotted together and a few highly creative bracelets, rings and necklaces. But aside from the mess and the few pieces of eccentric articles that probably weren’t fit for sale, our hard work produced a range of jewellery that would go towards our final charity sale along with our glass paintings and other creative pieces.

I particularly liked jewellery making as we all got to work in a group with the help of our arts teacher Ms Anisha, relaxing and messing around with a bunch of colourful beads and charms. But at the heart of it we were really doing hard work, and I distinctly remember the painstaking hours we spent creating the correct twirls of wire for earrings, and meticulously beading necklaces (which frequently fell apart and had to be restrung again.) I created quite a few earrings myself and taught the juniors how to make them in one of our later jewellery making classes.

When we finally did have our sale, during a teacher training workshop, our jewellery was extremely popular. It was nice to think that our hard work was going to go for a good cause. On top of that, I feel I learned a skill that I could definitely put to use in the future. 

Saturday 15th May 2010

I woke up at 5 this morning and headed to the beach, to participate in the Beach Cleanup, happening along the Chennai coast. I went with Shrita, Shanmugam, Saaranan, and some family. We spent about an hour and a half at Besantnagar Beach.

We were provided with gloves, and were told to seperate Biodegradable and Non-Biodegradable waste into two seperate coloured plastic bags, which were also provided. I was mainly working with Shrita and Saaranan near the water.

When we started out, it wasn't all that hard, as it was only around 6am and the sun wasn't yet out. Around 7 though, it started getting hot and tiring. However, it was motivational to be surrounded by about 100 people cleaning around you. On top of that, being with friends and family made it a lot more fun. I think we made a difference, even in the short time we stayed and helped. I'm definitely going to attend more of these public events when they come up.

All fun aside though, I'm beginning to feel a lot more close to nature after forest trips and being constantly in the face of environmental issues. It is a matter that has become a lot more important to me recently, and every extra bit I do, I enjoy a little more.