By Himanshu Kumar Singh

‘Shed your mind of inhibitive tendencies and think out of the box’ was the message given by Gil Alon at the 8-hour workshop organized by Amity Care at Amity Campus, Sector 44, Noida, on June 20, 2006. Laced with unique but effective exercises and music therapies, the event was a fantastic experience for the participants. It reiterated what Mary Lou Cook once said, “Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun.”

Gil Alon from Israel is a poet, actor, theatre artist and Reiki master rolled into one. He is an admirer of India and is presently in New Delhi to organize creative workshops. In that sequel he accepted invitation to come to Amity for a session on how to improve personal creativity. Most of the participants who attended the session were ACCF members, teachers and counselors from various schools of Delhi. And they danced, pranced, introspected, discussed and broke barriers to explore themselves.

The session began with a soothing dose of music to the participants lying on their back with blindfolds and cushions. The very first exercise was meant to get the participants connected with each other. It was followed by a variety of other exercises like extempore public speaking, pain riddance, playing with an object like a child, thinking and behaving like a kid, hugging, etc.

In the words of Gil Alon, the only route to creativity lies in not being judgmental in whatever you do. According to him, don’t think, just do. Don’t inhibit your mind and actions to fall in the pattern of thinking of others. If you do, others control your mind and actions. Inhibition kills creativity.

After an eight-hour exercise there was a final session of conversation in which participants unfolded their minds on experience which they had during the workshop. They spoke about enjoying the feeling of unshackling, peace and connectivity.

Rachna Sondhi of Bal Bharati Public School, Noida, says “The workshop brought me close to the child hiding in me. I could feel all my inhibitions crumbling away at the end of the session.”

In a similar vein Poonam Bharadwaj of Ryan International School, Noida expressed satisfaction that “the workshop helped me to be more open up and made me aware about myself.”

Reflecting on creativity Vibhuti Soni of Red Horses Public School, Saket, says “I learnt that creativity is to think uniquely and being yourself.”

For Pratima Pathak “It was a great journey of introspecting oneself. I got to know a lot about my real being and was able to overcome some complexes.”

Almost all of the teachers and counselors attending the session suggested that such workshops should take place more frequently.

The purpose of the creativity workshop was to bring something unique for ACCF members in their monthly workshop module. It was important that adults step out of their deliberate frameworks and explore personal experience and possibilities. As they lose their inhibitions and find themselves, they will appreciate the natural freedom which a child enjoys.

Amity CARE look forward to hold more such events in the near future for the benefit of the ACCF members.

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