TRAINER   BACK

There is lot of things in the society that goes on and on and there is no one to question its existence. Be those social stigmas, political condition, social exploitation, obsolete norms, laws and many other things. Ignorance becomes way of life till particular thing affects the individual personally and directly. Who is bothered… is the way of life. Everybody demands fundamental rights but whom one has seen talking about fundamental duties?

Nevertheless I say that I am not a social worker but a true theater person. And in that regard a trainer. My priorities in life are very clear. I want to live for the theatre, with the theatre and by the theatre and in order to do that I see whole world open to me. I cannot see any area where I cannot take theatre. Be that child labour issue/ exploitation of the masses, problem of the slum dwellers, political exploitation of the society, attitudinal and personality development programme and the like areas. Take up any issue and gradually you will come to know where things are going wrong. But to take up an issue you will have to initiate. I train them to take initiative. But how do you expect others to take initiative once they have become insensitive. I train them to become sensitive. As a trainer I find a greater challenge in front of me. Take for instance child labour issue. The beginning of the journey was a workshop in Baroda. Hearing my poem on child labour, my dear friends asked me to write a play on it.

I liked the idea but needed through knowledge of the issue. I first trained myself to devote my few years to understand the problem in right context. My work as a trainer started since then. Theatre became relevant here too because its an instrument of change. It has originated from the society for its benefit. So, I worked with the street children working at tea stalls, dhabas, selling gajras, newspaper at signals and the like. I lived with them and understood that best way to get them away from their present state of living is to train them to live a meaningful life.

I interacted with them and based on their problem, their experiences developed the play MERA BACHPAN. And it was while doing the play that the children identified with their problem and saw it in broader context. They were trained to do a play, to deliver the dialogue clearly, to involve the audience without disturbing their performances. So the training to see things in right perspective started by involving these children with theatre. Gradually they were taken to those areas where they worked. They were asked to perform in front of the employers who employed them. They were trained not to be afraid of anybody while putting their point because we all are free to express ourselves

They performed and since they were the part of the issue, performing in front of the employer boosted their morale that they will not let them be exploited by anybody. I call this an indirect way of training. Either you break the barrier directly or you take a long route and gradually shed the barrier one by one. The long route of training is the one where direct experience and interaction is involved. I understood that firstly I will have to involve children and I did. Secondly, there was a greater difficult task of involving the parents of those exploited children. For this I took the same group of children and asked them to perform in front of their parents. Their performance provided their parents a platform where they could vent their problems

A dialogue was initiated. But imagine if anyone would have approached them directly and have said that they are doing wrong by letting their children work. So, to approach them in this manner was an indirect way. Through dialogue it came out that they wanted their children to work so that they could shoulder the responsibility of the family. Surprisingly, they were too governed by a set rule that poverty breeds child labour. They were then counseled by eminent personalities that letting their children would definitely bring some money in their home but only for a short period of time. On the other hand, their children will be deprived of a better future if they continue doing so. They were made aware that poverty was not the reason but education is the main cause of child labour.

They were asked that if they had been educated would they have to live the life they are living now? So, training the parents through dialogue and their children through theatre opened the door and they agreed to send their children to school. Here parents are trained to evaluate the things in long-term basis. Whether they are really helped by their children's work or are depriving their children of a better future.

Although parents agreed to send their children to school another question of money arose. Who will provide the money for children's education? Well, that was the next problem to be solved. Subsequently, play was performed at different municipal schools and a direct dialogue was established with the teachers and they agreed to enroll the children in the school. Even the same process was taken over to the employers and seeing the play one of the employer took an oath not to employ children in future. He even offered his garage for rehearsals.

That is the role of a trainer. I do things sometimes being in frame directly; sometimes maneuver the things from behind. But this sense of choosing which method will suit and when has too been developed through self-training. Training one self through experience is the best way. And that is what I do.

Sri Manjul is a man who takes a long time to say what he wants to say. He has tremendous energy to hold things and reveal only at appropriate time. This is very important as far as training is concerned. His way of training is unique. I, Pranay, can take up my experience in this context. Our initial few meetings were just devoted to sharing the experiences. I expressed my desire to try out my thoughts in practical way. I wanted to judge myself whether the idea to work for the welfare of the people was just an idea or whether I am really concerned. He said nothing about it and asked only to be with him. My training started. He did not answer many of my queries then and there.

While documenting this project there came a WIPS (Women in public sector) Attitudinal & Personality Development Programme at Khandala. I was asked to be there as a faculty member. Well, I thought it would be easier for me to be there as faculty as I will have the advantage of observing the thing directly. But on third day I was asked to be the part of the group to understand them more closely. He asked me to carry on with both the roles of a participant as well as faculty. A hard task followed because what I realized that his approach was different from mine. I had always approached the individual but there he was dealing with the group as a whole and was getting the desired result.

My training started and I consciously decided to restrain myself and try to learn the new approach. His next order was to take the group for meditation. He asked me that voice exercise (humming), relaxation must be done but that depends on me how do I carry that. Although hesitant and confused I took up the challenge. All the participants were in the hall. After humming exercise I asked all the participants to lie down in 'shav aasan'. I did not have any idea as if what next I was going to do. Brainstorming started. On the other hand, Manjul had taken up the opportunity to take rest along with the participants. Suddenly something struck to my mind and I asked all the participants to visualize, with their eyes closed, that we are moving out of this hall in a group..I took them to beach, crossing the road where one of the participants was saved from a fast moving vehicle.

On the beach they were asked to sit down and listen to the sound that was coming to them and feel that. Meditation to my mind is focusing on particular thing being aware of the surrounding. I was trying to carry on with that thought. After some time I asked them to open their eyes and see each other. Then they were asked to form a pair and sit back to back, one's back touching other's back and feel the warmth and support of other. I asked them to feel the energy flowing from one body to another. Then again I asked them to lie down and then handed over the group to Manjul.

Manjul took over the group and asked them to visualize that they are on the beach again. He brought the group back to the hall from the same route. He said later on that I should have brought the group to the place from where I took the charge. This is his training process. He trained me to understand the sense of responsibility in doing work. I betrayed the group when I left them in the middle. Nevertheless he appreciated the way I carried the given task but only when I was ready to be trained and wanted to go through the process.

Manjul reveals that training is a responsible job. He continued to say.. Although I deal in a group after initial interaction, one comes to know that each individual is unique and needs training of his personality. It is like diagnosing a disease and then prescribing the medicine according to the seriousness of the disease as well as the capacity of the patient's body to digest the medicine. High dose may leads to complication than treatment. In similar fashion, it's first and foremost thing to have complete knowledge of the Behavioral Science.

And as I said Behavioral Science uses theatrical approach, it is equally important to understand it. Human psyche, how it develops, how it is broken, how that can be refined are to be understood. Again, one cannot understand the personality of a person in isolation. Political, social and economical state of the country also determines individual personality. So, a brief knowledge of these factors and how they affect society and consequently individual is also needed. It is only when you understand all these things that you understand a person well and train him accordingly.

In Khandala one of the participant said that she feared speaking in public. I called her from her seat to the middle of the hall. All the other participants were sitting on chairs in semi-circle. I asked her to just go through the session since morning. Tell us what all has happened since morning. She recollected the incidences and narrated one by one. When she was through I asked what she did? She said that she just narrated the whole thing that happened since morning. I said that when you can tell all these people what has happened since morning where is your fear of speaking in public? Are they not public? So, would you like to try out somewhere else that you could do anything, anywhere? She said yes and I took the whole group out of the hall, near the resort gate. On the road I asked the girl to sing aloud so that the man (standing near he jeep at far off place) would listen and enjoy the song. And she did that. She was overjoyed to see the effect. Where do you see the training here? Do you think that she has been trained? Yes! She was trained by letting her try what she feared most. Fear once gone is gone forever. She was trained to encounter the fear. When she did she found nothing. That is training. .   BACK