Imagine, Write and Repeat

As an occupational advantage I get to go to fascinating places. This one took me outside of the racket of Dhaka to ABC International School, Narayanganj on November 10, 2016. The joint initiative of United International University (UIU) and The Daily Star (TDS), namely "IMAGINE Write Creatively" tries to stimulate creativity among school-goers. Truth be told, I was secretly hoping to fish some tips to better my own fiction writing and I think I succeeded.

The workshop kicked off at 9.30 in the morning, the room was filled with enthusiastic students who were looking forward to an unconventional break from routine classes. The trainers were Sharmin Sultana, Associate Professor of the English department, UIU and Naziba Basher, from The Daily Star. Among the officials Abdul Hai, Principal, Rebeka Sultana, Vice Principal, Golam Moula, Assistant Vice Principal, and Abdul Monayem, Executive Director, ABC International School, were present. 

The sessions were incredibly interactive. Despite being only an observer, I did not feel bored for a single moment. In the very beginning, students were invited for a warm-up game. They were then told how imagination works to shape our minds in general and obviously while pursuing a passion in writing fiction. The fundamentals of creative writing were discussed. Through analysing characters from mere photographs, students came up with extraordinary stories. Though initially I was sceptical as to how much the kids would come out of their shell, I was astounded at their contribution. They were brave enough to break out predictable clichés and innovate unique narratives. When a student was given a copy of SHOUT like everyone else and asked to come up with a story focusing any character/object from that paper, she gave life to a hairclip. My amazement hit the roof when someone created a bearded Captain Bangladesh clad in lungi. 

Next, the participants learned about the setting and the plot of a fiction. I could easily spot the readers and daydreamers from the bunch. Only in a minute's preparation they produced impressive plots from the writing prompts they were given. There were more volunteers for the interactive games than the workshop could cover, which only goes on to show how captivated the students were. My favourite was the game where each volunteer was blindfolded and were asked to use their senses to make up a story. Each of them touched, smelt, tasted or heard something. Imagine being blindfolded and touching a fluffy object. There hides the story of a winter morning, being curled up inside a soft blanket with the sun barely peeking through the window. Such fine-tuned anecdotes from the participants took my breath away. Golam Moula, the Assistant Vice Principal and Student Counsellor of ABC International School sat through most of the workshop. He stressed, "Students often get tired of regular classes and nothing is more invigorating than a bunch of passionate young people telling them to keep imagining. They tend to respond positively to encouragement from outsiders."

I thought I would pick the brains of a few participants about their thoughts on the initiative. Sadiqur Rahman Samil said that he writes short stories himself and workshops like this would help him understand the technicalities of writing fiction. Murshahidulla Kabbo and Fairoz Khan Saify both wholeheartedly agreed that they felt more pumped up than ever to write stories after this workshop. 

One of the trainers, Sharmin Sultana, added, "I believe imagination is something that helps us make the impossible possible. I want all the young people to take this opportunity and go for creating something new for a better world."

This could not have been put more perfectly. Such workshop would be an integral part of the cultural and literary revolution that our youth desperately needs, hence the need to go beyond the capital to the outskirts and further. 

Anupoma Joyeeta Joyee is a perpetually sleepy Law student who emotionally identifies with ducks and occasionally sets out on writing sprees. Feel free to rant to her at anupomajoyee@gmail.com