Stammering can be fun too!

I had come prepared with a planned agenda this time (Taking a few inspirations / lessons from Chandigarh). To start with, I updated Santosh and Rahul on the progress of the Goa Workshop to be held in April. We then quickly got started with the activities. We started with around 8 mins of Meditation. Then it was the introduction round. Each person stood in front of the other two and introduced himself with name / education / job profile, and then had to say what colour shirt they are wearing, number of pockets they are having on their outfit, who is their favourite actor and cricketer. Next it was time for a game – “The king of bouncing”. Each speaker had to choose a “counter” for himself. The counter had to ask his speaker a question, and during his reply, would count the number of words he bounced on. We had two rounds of this activity, with interesting questions coming up. Though I was crowned the king of bouncing, I think Rahul and Santosh were splendid with their block-management skills. The purpose of this activity was to get used to the bouncing technique and deliberately try to use it in our speech. Then we had another interesting activity. On a given situation, one person had to act and watching him act other person had to give a commentary on the role-play / actions / gestures he is making. The idea of this activity was co-ordination of speech, and also getting used to speak on something which is not expected (you never know what the person will act next). The situations which we tried were – 1) A rowdy guy trying to impress a girl on a bus stop, 2) A thief encroaching in a house and trying to rob and 3) A man who has lost his way and trying to find his way to his destination. Then we had a round of Impromptu speeches. Harish spoke on whether it is justified for India to host sports events like Cricket World Cup, Commenwealth Games, when we already have other things to cater to, Rahul spoke about a few personal things during his college, and Santosh spoke on which team he considers to be the biggest contender to win the cricket world cup this year, and why? (Santosh’s top 3 contenders- India, Australia and Pakistan). We then had a final session of feedback and casual discussions (which included speaking about Role of SHGs, self-help and a discussion on King’s Speech). Before parting away, we had a photo session. Santosh and I then went to a near-by restaurant to relish a few delicacies together. (Photo 1- Everybody posing for a snap, Photo 2- Rahul and Santosh in the middle of their impromptu speeches)