Jehanzeb Baldiwala and Raviraj Shetty from the Mental Health Team at Ummeed Child Development Center recently conducted a short term training on Narrative Ideas and Practices in Kolkata.

Here’s the five-day shift shared by Kolkata Group to describe their journey of exploring the first module of Narrative training in July 2018.

The 5-day Shift

Jittery, curious, excited were we

Before we met Jehanzeb and Ravi.

Landscapes, spaces, maps and stories,

Kept us wondering ‘what were these!?!’

Lost in translation, and sometimes in groups,

We landed up among the constellation of ‘new(s)’.

Cups of tea – black, white and sweet –

Picnic baskets, and homely treats.

Some from here, and some from there,

Together, we were everywhere.

Circular, classroom, and disarray

Chairs and minds moved in everyway!

Unfolding, piecing, bit by bit,

What we knew but weren’t doing it

Just like this…but in our own way…

Validated thankfully by R & J!

Identity, Action and Landscape

We’ve come to a place of no escape…

From wonderful ideas, metaphors and agency,

Stories shifting, new, and sparkly!

   – Jyotika, Sweta, Asimayan, Mihika & Shaneel

Kolkata, July 2018

 

Narrative Dots

Work in progress gradually
Each of us is inevitably
Standing tall with possibility
Over landscapes of action and identity
Decentered yet influential
Always non judgmental
The problem we externalise
Images and words help us visualise
Mastering the art of Storying
Over the course of loitering
Know how, skill and action
Kolkatans live up to the artsy reputation