Rains bring out the child in all of us. And now, Shivani Tibrewala, writer-director-producer, is conducting a Monsoon Masti workshop to bring out the adult in every child. “I love the rains.
Monsoons are a beautiful time and children get a pure enjoyment out of playing with water. So I thought we could teach children about the importance of water conservation, and have some fun while we’re at it.”
The workshop, which is being held at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on July 17, will include water games such as ‘water exterminator’, ‘water relay race’, ‘kick of the bucket’, ‘apple-bobbing’ and many more. Besides these, the workshop will include improvisation sessions, storytelling about mythology and the ecological relevance of water.
“It’s basically reverse psychology,” laughs Tibrewala. “We ‘waste’ water and then the children think about what life would be like without this precious resource. We reminded the children at our last workshop that they had collectively wasted less
water than the amount they waste by leaving taps on while brushing.”
And how does this tactic work? Parents have called up Tibrewala after the workshop, exclaiming about their newly conscientious eco-warriors.
“Children at such a young age are not jaded. They react in a simple and direct way, so the effects are visible immediately. And they have a lot of fun and make a big mess while they’re at it.”
The children who attend the workshop tend to be eight to nine years old. Last year, six children attended the first Monsoon Madness workshop, but this year Tibrewala is hoping for an increased attendance.
“We are working with the NCPA towards organising several workshops with children over the next few months. I love working with children.” Tibrewala appreciates a child’s innocence and honesty, but hesitates at the aspect of working professionally with a child. “They’re a pleasure to work with because of their instincts, but I would not want to subject a young child to the professional grind of theater.”
The workshop hopes to impart the lesson that a world with clean water is a better place for everyone to live. “We throw a coin into coloured water and the children realise how much harder it is to spot it,” explains Tibrewala.
The workshop also includes children enacting the different stages of a water cycle, so that the children involved learn to value every drop of water. “The games are metaphors for conservation,” she concludes.
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