iNSiGHTS Exploring the Creative Self26 th Nov – 1 stDec 2011 About twenty young people in their twenties (studying Photography and Film Production at SACAC, New Delhi) came to Pondicherry to go on a five day journey of creative discovery. A day wise account…Day 0 - Despite the long train journey and little sleep, the excitement and enthusiasm was palpable in the group. All minds were open and ready to receive the words of welcome and wisdom that the Sri Aurobindo Society Chairman, (Mr. Pradeep N arang) had to share. After a brief overview of what was to come, they were given work be fore the y dozed off - a ‘stream of consciousness’ experiment involving twenty minutes of non-stop writing without stopping and without a topic. The idea was to observe and reflect later what fatigue does to our expression. Day 1 - The first day commenced with ten minutes of silent focus with meditative music, to gather oneself and let go of distractions. This was followed by Sharing about the writing exercise given the night before. Everyone brought out their experiences, finding it easy and tough, also for some having the mind go blank altogether. Move to the section on ‘Object Observation’ where the group worked with the various intricate objects they had brought, to see, and feel its little details, to get to a point where they would see it and see the story behind it. Interesting stories came out, some surprisingly similar to the real stories as later revealed. Then came blindfolde d freestyle dancing on music, of letting go and flowin g with the music, offreezing and becoming more aware of oneself. This lead to the crazines s of dancing without music which attempted to find one’s own inner music and rhythm. Topics were given in four groups, and they had to come up w ith a ‘fairy tale’ on it, which was to be presented in a creative manner interesting enough for a 5 year old. Post lunch was performance time. Soon topics such as “why is sea water salty?’ or ‘why does the moon wax and wane?’ changed into interesting stories. Acting, humor, singing were all on display! All this excitement only led to the time to lie down and relax, to reach to a restfulness inside and bring it out to one’s conscious state. It is in this state of utter relaxation that they wrote a quick write up of a single word ‘grass’ for ten straight minutes. Evaluating this and the pervious writings helped connect the exercises and made one aware of how one thinks. The last session was ‘Shoo Fly’, where everyone had to bring to fore one of their problems while the others gave suggestions or commented on it. What came out was that every process is not an individual one but a community process, also bringing the group closer to each other, but more honestly so.
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iNSiGHTS - Exploring the Creative Self - Report and Responses
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8/3/2019 iNSiGHTS - Exploring the Creative Self - Report and Responses
“ This workshop has been a great experience for me. It has helped me know myself better and also to
some extent it has killed my inhibitions and fear, like public speaking, expressing your view, feeling
confident about yourself, learning from mistakes, respecting other ’ s viewpoint etc… This kind of
education must be started from primary school, as I feel this is real education. Also, people from every field must attend it do discover themselves and broaden their horizons.”
– Deepakshi Chowdhary
“ When we came here the first day, I could feel the warmth, but being the person I am, I waited for the
real test. It was the second half of the first day which got me going and the 20 minute writing exercise
that tickled me to fun. From then on I knew it was fun ride! I enjoyed the experience of coming to an
unknown place to gain knowledge about myself … There are some things I take from here that I take back
to put into practice in my life (mainly writing and observation and silence).”
– Vishal Khanna
“ Overall, it was fantabulous. I had my high points and low points. But I learnt tremendously about
myself … I think I have grown a lot from this workshop, understood myself and other too. The faculty is
amazing, strict and friendly at the same time. Don’ t feel like leaving… I have learnt I get affected a lot by
what others say and think, but I think the way I used to react has changed completely. Thank you for an
enriching experience.”
- Ambuja Sabharwal
8/3/2019 iNSiGHTS - Exploring the Creative Self - Report and Responses
“ The first was quite difficult, starting with meditation and dancing with eyes closed, but I learnt that a
fear was going out and I was becoming confident. Also, the 3D model we prepared - through that it was
easy to learn different aspects of life. Discussing the fear inside you in ‘ shoo fly ’ and getting suggestions
was helpful. Thanks to Laura and Andrea for the musical session, that was the best thing. Visit to
Matrikunj was special, saw a different world, where animals, plants, trees, insects can live together and
how much peace it can give you… Overall peaceful experience where we learnt so many things.”
- Kulpreet Kaur
“ The write up exercise affected e the most. It allows you to gent an insight into yourself. On the third day of the workshop, I felt more free and liberated after writing all my bad experiences on paper. Now, I
want to make this my habit … I have picked up many ideas and tips. I hope that it will reflect in my work
and life. Explanation of symbolism and liberation was awesome.”
– Yogesh Arora
“ According to me it seemed like a genuine effort from your end to give us an insight about our deeper
self. You tried to show us the ways through which we could understand ourselves and also to an extent
grow for that matter. I could sense a beautiful intention of it all, both at micro as well as at a larger
level …. I am sure you were able to plant the seed real deep. Thank you for your time and a lovely effort.
You are all beautiful people.”
– Vaibhav Gupta
8/3/2019 iNSiGHTS - Exploring the Creative Self - Report and Responses