Day 2.
The day's almost over but I'm willing myself to write down this post because I know it will disappear from my head tomorrow.
Today started with knowing more about TFI and Shaheen. In very simple words it was all very inspiring and made me wonder if I'd ever have the courage to have done what she has done and what everyone at Akanksha did when they started out.
Watching her share her stories made me feel privileged to be where I was and even to some extent surreal.
Watching all the children from the Akanksha centres was even more special. The level of maturity with which they spoke about their struggles - domestic violence, financial troubles and even losing a parent, was something I probably can't even do myself. They were just such a joy to watch and they did bring this cheer in the room.
We discussed each one's vision for our classroom. I think mine is that I want to pass on to my students the ability to dream. I know it's really at an abstract level right now and needs to be broken down into goals and objectives for the classroom but I think it's a start. I do believe in the power of a dream and I hope some day my students realize that.
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Then came the Yellow Hat.
The cap that signified the power of optimism and faith, to always tell yourself that you can.
The task at one hand - Feeding people in the community without any money
The players - 10 people - 2 blindfolded, 2 couldn't use their hands, two couldn't use one foot and the rest couldn't speak.
I chose to be the one of the two hoping around on one foot. It was exhausting physically. So mentally I just took the easy way out. I went back to my comfort zone and didn't really push myself. I made peace with my physical achievements in the task. It's afterwards when we reflected that we had ourselves modified the task into some sort of competition. We just had to feed people. But as Sakina said, it wasn't really feeding. We just somehow got food from people for free and then distributed it to anyone who'd eat it. Forgetting the very fact that no one had said the goal of the task was to feed maximum people.
What it did teach me was that this task involved the quintessential question - quality vs quantity.
I've learnt so much today, but what I want to remember today is a line with which the last session ended:
"You've chosen not to be a bystander but always remember it's not ok to just show up"
Amen.
The day's almost over but I'm willing myself to write down this post because I know it will disappear from my head tomorrow.
Today started with knowing more about TFI and Shaheen. In very simple words it was all very inspiring and made me wonder if I'd ever have the courage to have done what she has done and what everyone at Akanksha did when they started out.
Watching her share her stories made me feel privileged to be where I was and even to some extent surreal.
Watching all the children from the Akanksha centres was even more special. The level of maturity with which they spoke about their struggles - domestic violence, financial troubles and even losing a parent, was something I probably can't even do myself. They were just such a joy to watch and they did bring this cheer in the room.
We discussed each one's vision for our classroom. I think mine is that I want to pass on to my students the ability to dream. I know it's really at an abstract level right now and needs to be broken down into goals and objectives for the classroom but I think it's a start. I do believe in the power of a dream and I hope some day my students realize that.
_____________________________________
Then came the Yellow Hat.
The cap that signified the power of optimism and faith, to always tell yourself that you can.
The task at one hand - Feeding people in the community without any money
The players - 10 people - 2 blindfolded, 2 couldn't use their hands, two couldn't use one foot and the rest couldn't speak.
I chose to be the one of the two hoping around on one foot. It was exhausting physically. So mentally I just took the easy way out. I went back to my comfort zone and didn't really push myself. I made peace with my physical achievements in the task. It's afterwards when we reflected that we had ourselves modified the task into some sort of competition. We just had to feed people. But as Sakina said, it wasn't really feeding. We just somehow got food from people for free and then distributed it to anyone who'd eat it. Forgetting the very fact that no one had said the goal of the task was to feed maximum people.
What it did teach me was that this task involved the quintessential question - quality vs quantity.
I've learnt so much today, but what I want to remember today is a line with which the last session ended:
"You've chosen not to be a bystander but always remember it's not ok to just show up"
Amen.
1 comment:
I love that last line. :)
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