Mumbai SHG: A beautiful moment…

Aaj ki SHG meet mein, family-wala feeling aiya…

Participants (from right): Ashok Agicha (Ashu), Bharat Soni, Jayesh Patil, Bhavana Patil, Dhruv Gupta

Meeting ke pele, I was lying in my bed – not happy with the world. Meeting ke bad – I feel great! I was feeling lonely; a common human emotion. Meeting TISA friends, talking about life, sharing, laughing, connecting.. made it all better!

Also, Bharat, returned to Mumbai from a two year long stay in Bangalore; where he was active in Bangalore SHG. He brought an idea to have a Mega-SHG meet every 3 months; where the organizers call up all members and personally invite them.

Meeting began with open discussion.. Ashu shared a brave story about giving a mother dog, and her baby, shelter/clothing/food in the rain (even though he doesn’t like dogs)!.. Compassion transcends fear often 🙂

Jayesh led an activity where we discussed how to present ourselves with clients. We did some role plays, and discussed body-language, how to shake hands, whether to smile or not. We realized that these role plays are a great way to mimic real-life scenarios – they are scary! How to overcome that fear? P-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-ractice in SHG 🙂.. One thing that inspired all of us to overcome our fear was Vipul’s story.

After that, we played the BUM Game; this is where everyone counts consecutively, and anyone who lands on a multiple of 4 has to say “BUM”, and a number that includes 4, like 14, becomes “One Bum”. We had lots of fun, and then included an option to change directions and skip others. This game makes everyone present-minded and focused. 

Next, we practiced bouncing; inspired again by Vipul’s story. We bounced on one-word, and continued bouncing even AFTER the feeling of “I can say it now”. For example, a-a-a-a-a(“I can say it now”)-a-a-a-a-a-apple. This CHOICE to continue bouncing, even after the point where you can say it, is freeing. As Dr. Sachin put it “you are the boss now. Fear is your servant..” 

Then, we collectively made a story and used bouncing on one word in that story. The story was about a family of Elephants ????- Apu (father), Api (mother), Pappu (son), Pappi (daughter). Apu is a magical elephant who could fly. Api is a world-championship boxer who won gold in Olympics (inspired by Dangal). The family moved around from Bangalore, to Mumbai, to the Zoo (and always lived happily ever after… ;)). Several other twists were in the story that my SHG-mates may share in the comments. Overall, we practiced positive communication skills.. consciously moving beyond the temporary feeling of fear 

One learning I had: There is a beautiful moment. That lies between stimulus and reaction. A moment where one can CHOOSE: is this how I want to act/feel? If one can wait.. After stimulus.. hold that moment.. before reacting.. and consider, what is the wise choice here? what is the courageous choice here? Is there a better choice than the reaction that is about to follow? 

Fin.

PS:

Mumbai SHG meets every Sunday at YMCA Ghatkopar from 2:30-5 pm. YMCA Ghatkopar Address: https://goo.gl/maps/35tWUkMJXrt

To join the Mumbai Whatsapp group, msg Ashu, 9922669510, Dhruv 9930693364, Bhavana 9420497157, or Saurabh 8655717561. Or join directly via this link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KEJfy7TjigAAnxYMgfwA32; and introduce yourself!