Art workshop with municipal school kids

Agree or not, we all live in a box! Confused? Let me explain - everyday we wake up, get ready, go to office, start our computers, drink tea, make tables, write reports, attend meetings, come back, eat, drink and sleep - this is a box life!

So, how can you break free? Well, there are many ways which can explore depending on your areas of interest. E.g. I blog here at maktion to fulfill my creative satiety. It's not that I don't get opportunities at my workplace but in life some of our interests get fulfilled only when we look out of the box! Today, I could fulfill one such interest which I'd like to share. I will remember this day (Sep 25) as I got an opportunity to be with school kids from a municipal school as a volunteer for their Art Workshop!

I got to know about the art workshop through someones retweet on Twitter via @aditirawat where she had tweeted "looking for volunteers in school on 24th and 25th sept for an art workshop. Just bring yourself and have fun with kids and paints!" Upon seeing this, I wondered how would it be to be with these kids who deserve good education as any other kid should? I read Aditi's Bio and it mentioned 'Teach for India fellow' which gave me the push to inquire more. After exchanging some tweets and mails, I got myself registered for the art workshop!

I had to be present at 11am, got a little late due to traffic at Andheri (MMRDA -please build the Metro line fast, the traffic sucks!). Finally I reached Anand Nagar English Municipal School, Dahisar (E), Mumbai and went inside. The noise was so random and vibrant, it reminded me of my old days at school! I looked here and there and someone shouted my name 'Arif, is that you?' It was Aditi, the Teach for India fellow. She took me to Class 2-B (a thought: 2-A, 2-B, 2-C, didn't we pride ourselves with what section we were in? I've mostly been a -A student!).

As I entered the classroom I saw butterflies! ;) ..beautiful kids I mean! They were already on with some activity, so I just walked around their benches and was trying to figure out what they were doing. I was clear in my mind that I will be absolutely interactive and I will be one amongst them to understand what's happening. I went from bench to bench, said "Hi!" and talked with the kids. I asked them what are they making to which 2-3 kids looked back at me and replied "We're making a star!". I looked at the object - they were pebbles on which these kids were painting in pink, orange, yellow, green and blue color.

The collection of painted pebbles called 'Stars' by the kids! Really great.

I kept moving from one bench to another to give equal attention and check their progress. I talked to them, heard them out, gave them tips, laughed at their jokes - boy, everything was so happening and cheerful! After painting they left their stars to dry at one place. Throughout this, it was great to see their actual class teacher encouraging them and helping them when they needed. In between, they got their meal and started giggling amongst themselves. Some kids opened up and talked to me about shapes, stars, moon, sun - basically the objects that they had in mind while painting.

Trust me, if I have to sum up my experience, I'd say "Very satisfying with the shining stars!". I really appreciate and congratulate the Teach for India fellows - Aditi, Prasun, Shikha, Sumit and Rukmani for the thought process, efforts put in, patience shown and personal contribution towards making this workshop so wonderful and ultimately serving the purpose of enlightening the lives of these kids. During recess, I had a pep talk with them on their personal experiences, value-adds, how they measure progress in these kids, etc. Really, it's a challenge to teach these kids and requires sincere efforts and commitment coupled with passion for self-motivation. It's special people like these who can take India ahead.

Despite paint in my hand, I did manage to click a few pics from my phone which will narrate the rest of my experience with the kids:

Initially, the kids were wondering who I am?

After some talk, the kids opened up and conversed freely!

The kids explaining what they were doing.

After pebbles, came the time to paint faces! Run!

Active boys - The 3 Idiots?!

Yes, yes - active girls too!

Special request - 'Click me, please, please!'

Totally painted - Kids in Green!

If I have to sum up in 140 characters, it would be:

My experience at municipal school art workshop: Kids were very inquisitive, receptive & beautiful. A priceless experience, 100% satisfaction.

If you found this post interesting, then I strongly recommend you to volunteer for such workshops with these school kids as a little contribution from you can make a big difference to the lives of these kids! And how do you that? Simple - get in touch with Aditi on twitter @aditirawat and you can also join their Facebook page (click here) where you can see workshop photos, discuss, ask questions, etc. Do spread the word on your Facebook, Twitter network as even that will count if you can't make it yourselves. Remember, if you do go, you'll bring down the stars (Taare Zameen Par)!

Surprises can trigger instant response

Today as I was surfing and reading some articles on the net, a cousins message came on my phone. I grabbed my phone, went to the Message Inbox and opened the message. At first, I was unsure whether I read it correctly. I reread it to confirm as the content was not the same old expected joke or humor type from this cousin of mine! It was something which actually surprised me literally! Here's what the actual message was:

Now, there's actually nothing to get so surprised in it as it's an announcement of one's engagement - simple! But the reason why I got surprised was because I know this cousin of mine who is still studying in her second year and an engagement would probably be the last thing on her parents mind right now! As an immediate response after realizing that I've indeed got the message right, I replied "Wow, that's wonderful. It came as a surprise. Congratulations from all of us."

A reply came from my cousin "Hey did u read d entire msg? pls read it entirely! lol." I went back to my Message Inbox and read the message for the third time and realized that I did not read the complete message as there was a scroll bar which meant more was to follow below! I scrolled down and got to read "SANTA KI GRLFRND USKO ITNA BOLKAR CHALI GAYI.." which actually completed the message. I laughed, as it was another joke message but this time unique and a little different.

Now, you must be wondering whether this incident qualifies for becoming a blog post? Well, the reason why I narrated this incident is because later I thought about it from a Marketing perspective. In this world full of clutter and little differentiation, a surprise can actually help in differentiating. If the element of surprise is creative and exciting then it can actually trigger an instant response! That's exactly what happened with me, I replied immediately without even reading the entire message, unlike most of the times when I just read joke messages and don't reply.

If I have to think of something similar then I can probably connect with the Volkswagen Talking newspaper ad which came in The Times of India, September 21, 2010 hard copy edition. Believe it or not, this ad on the last page actually spoke for itself which surprised many readers as it was something really new and no one had experienced such a kind of an ad ever before. It not only caught immediate attention but also triggered an instant response on social media like Facebook and Twitter where there was a lot of buzz of this talking ad. Now, how much did it translate into sales is a question which you can directly ask Volkswagen! In case you missed this one of a kind talking newspaper ad, then have a look here:

SRK's grammar spikes on twitter!

What would do you do if you get stuck at something and want to understand it? Ask someone or search, right? Well, Shah Rukh Khan was almost in a similar situation when he had to teach his son some grammar on phrases and clauses.

SRK did start well but when it came to explaining 'Predicate' he had no clue what it was! He tweeted loud "what the hell is predicate????" and added "sounds like a predator who ate something...at this point i feel...i will be the food for this predator... predicate... predicate.. go away shoo" All this is real time was quiet funny to see. And like many of his fans I too was enjoying his live tweets! Have a look at his tweet transcript below.

And this was not the end. As soon as Shah Rukh tweeted 'predicate', he got flooded with responses from all his fans. I checked on Google updates by searching for 'Predicate' and countless tweets were continuously dropping in reply to Shah Rukh's question. Many explanations came, with different examples. With so much 'information at your desktop', I'm sure Shah Rukh must have found it real easy to explain 'Predicate' to his son! In the end, he did thank all for the 'tuitions'.

Out of curiosity, I once again checked on Google updates for 'Predicate' for the entire month of August 2010 and this time got to see a clear 'spike' (see the red arrow below) on August 28, the day when he tweeted about 'Predicate'!

Even Shah Rukh wouldn't have expected the overflowing response to his one little tweet! But then he's the King and is no ordinary tweeter. This was a moment when the star used the power of social media for good use, i.e. to teach his son. Post a comment below to share how you've used Twitter for understanding something you didn't know. You can also connect with me @ArifKhan7.